Prevention of molecular weight reduction of the polymer, impurity formation and gelling in polymer compositions

ABSTRACT

Polymer and drug containing compositions and method of preparing such compositions are disclosed. The dispersed phase formulation has a polymer, a pharmaceutically or biologically active agent and a small fraction of low pKa acid additive. Stable, filter sterilizable, non-gelling solutions containing GnRH analogues at least at levels typically used in sustained release formulations and a method of increasing solubility of a high level of a GnRH analogue or a freeze-dried antagonist of GnRH in a polymer containing solution are also disclosed. The amount of the acid additive in the polymer solution is such that it is sufficient to increase the solubility of the high level of the GnRH analogue in the polymer solution without affecting the release characteristics of the microspheres prepared therefrom.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/488,573 filed Jul. 18, 2003, and the text of application 60/488,573is incorporated by reference in its entirety herewith.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to polymer compositions capable ofproviding sustained or extended drug release, methods of theirpreparation and use in various biological applications. Specifically, itrelates to prevention or elimination of molecular weight reduction ofthe polymer in a polymer solution containing nucleophilic compound(s) oragent(s). It also relates to reduction or elimination of peptide polymerimpurities in the polymer solutions. It further relates to GnRH analogand polymer containing solutions capable of forming stable, filtersterilizable, non-gelling solutions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Compositions containing biologically active agents in combination withbiocompatible and biodegradable polymers are being increasingly used asdrug delivery systems to provide sustained or delayed release of drugs.The compositions are available in various injectible depot formsincluding liquid forms, solid implants, microspheres, microcapsules andmicroparticles.

For example controlled release systems where the polymeric compositionsare liquid forms or flowable delivery systems are described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,739,176, 4,938,763; 5,278,201, 5,324,519 and 5,278,202. Thecompositions described in these patents are administered to the body ofa subject in a flowable state. Once in the body, the compositionprecipitates or coagulates to form a solid matrix or implant and theorganic solvent in the composition dissipates or disperses into theaqueous or body fluid. Once the solid implant is formed, usually at thesite of administration, the biologically active agent is released fromthe solid matrix by diffusion or dissolution from within the polymericmatrix and/or by the slow degradation of the polymeric matrix.

A variety of sustained release microspheres or microcapsules are alsoavailable or are being developed as delivery systems for the rapidlyexpanding class of peptide and non-peptide therapeutic orpharmacological agents. For example, sustained release microspheres ormicrocapsules are known in the administration of hormones, hormoneanalogs, antitumoral drugs, thioridazine, antipsychotic, and steroidswhere PLGA o PLA is the constitutive biodegradable polymer material.Further, for example, in recent years, a variety of injectable depotformulations in which a somatostatin analog (e.g., octreotide acetate)or a LHRH analog (e.g. leuprolide acetate) encapsulated in, and releasedslowly from, microspheres made of biodegradable polymers have beenreported (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,478,564, 5,540,973, 5,609,886, 5,876,761,5,688,530, 4,652,441, 4,677,191, 4,917,893, 4,954,298, 5,330,767,5,476,663, 5,575,987, 5,631,020, 5,631,021 and 5,716,640). Indeed, longacting injectable depot formulations of GnRH analogues (agonists andantagonists) are being used and/or tested for the treatment of variouspathological and physiological conditions in mammals, particularly inhumans (Kostanski et al., 2001, BMC Cancer, 1:18-24). The treatments arefor, among other things, the management of sex hormone-dependentdiseases such as prostate cancer and endometriosis, for the induction ofovulation, and for the control of male fertility.

Thus, significant efforts are being made to maintain a steady release ofmedicinal drugs in animals by using compositions containingbiodegradable biocompatible polymers. One obvious goal behind in all ofthese polymeric compositions is that the biologically active agent(e.g., a peptide or protein) of interest can be administered lessfrequently, sometimes at lower overall doses, than when formulated as asolution without the use of polymers in them. More importantly, it canjustify commercial development of proteins that, for a variety ofreasons, could not be marketed as simple solution formulations.

Despite the technological advances that were made in the area ofinjectable depot formulations to date, a number of quality concernsprevent their ready use in biological applications. These includereduction in molecular weight of the polymers in the polymercomposition, de novo formation of conjugate substances (impurities),insolubility of the biologically active agents in solvents typicallyused in the polymer compositions and their propensity to form gels.

Molecular weight of the polymer material (e.g., PLGA/PLA matrix) is animportant factor in designing sustained release formulations becausedrug release profile and the degradation rate of the polymer depend onmolecular weight of the polymer in the final product. It has beenreported that the molecular weight of the PLGA decreased in themicrocapsules (microspheres) containing simple basic compounds such asthioridazine and ketotifen as free bases during their fabrication.Microcapsules fabricated from their pamoate salts did not produce muchreduction in molecular weight (Maulding et al., 1986, Journal ofContolled Release, 3:103-117). U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,598 showed that thepresence of benzyl alcohol, as the residual solvent in the microspheresreduced the shelf life of the product by molecular weight reduction andthe patent provides a method to reduce the residual benzyl alcohollevel. However, it is not always possible to remove the residualsolvents from the microspheres.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,987 discloses that the simple nucleophilic compoundssuch as risperidone, naltrexone, and oxybutynin can degrade the PLGAvariably depending upon the holding time and temperature of thedispersed phase solution. Methods provided to minimize the reduction inmolecular weight are, lowering the hold time of the drug-polymersolution and the hold temperature. However, during the manufacturing ofthe sustained release products, it is very difficult to control the holdtime of the drug-polymer solutions. Also, the hold time and its effectmay depend upon the type, co-monomer ratio and co-monomer sequence ofthe polymer. Further, there could be unexpected delays in the asepticprocessing sequence during the fabrication of microspheres, which couldmake the entire drug-polymer solution not usable. Lowering the holdtemperature of the drug-polymer solution could result in drugcrystallization or viscous polymer-drug solution. Higher viscositysolutions are difficult to sterile filter and often give rise to largerparticles. Larger particles could pose syringeability problems.

The FDA and ICH guidelines on impurities in new drug substances suggestthat any impurity (individual impurity) greater than 0.1% has to bereported, and any impurity greater than 0.15% has to be identified. Ifthe impurity in a new drug is more than a given threshold level, thoseimpurities should be adequately tested for their adverse effects andbiological safety. It is generally understood that there is no safetyconcern if the individual impurity is less than 0.5% or the totalimpurity, which is the sum of individual impurities, is less than 2% in,for example, a peptide containing polymer composition. These levelsdefine threshold levels. Thus, the use of peptide or proteindrug-containing polymer composition with individual impurity greaterthan 0.5% and/or total impurity greater than 2% may raise regulatorycompliance issues. Often, peptide related substances or impurities inmicrosphere formulations, manufactured by the currently known processes,exceed levels far greater than the threshold levels. The extent ofimpurity depends upon the type of peptide. Decreasing the level ofimpurity to not more than the threshold can be simpler and economicalthan providing safety data.

Most of the GnRH analogues, particularly antagonists, are not freelysoluble in water or in other solvents and they have a propensity to formgels even at low concentrations (Ref: J. Med. Chem., 2001, 44, 453-467).Sustained release formulations usually require very high concentrationsof the analogues dissolved in small volumes water or some other suitablesolvent(s). The relatively low solubility of the GnRH analogues andtheir concentration-dependent propensity to form gels in aqueous orother solvents greatly limit their use in sustained releaseformulations. Further, in order to prepare sterile sustained releaseformulations, it is desirable and to filter sterilize the solution ofthe drug and the polymer matrix (either separately or as a combinedsolution) rather than resort to sterilization techniques such as heat,steam, gamma radiation and the like.

Therefore, a need exists in the prior art to develop polymer drugcompositions and methods thereof that do not raise quality concernsassociated with molecular weight reduction of the polymers in thepolymer composition, impurities, and solubility and gelling of thebiologically active agents used in the compositions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It has now been found that it is possible to obtain polymer compositionsthat address the above discussed quality concerns posed by the prior artcompositions.

Specifically, it is now possible to reduce or eliminate the molecularweight reduction of a polymer, which is caused by nucleophilic substancecapable of catalyzing ester bond cleavage of the polymer in the polymercomposition, by including a small amount of an acid additive as part ofthe polymer composition. Particularly, if a small amount low pKa acidssuch as lactic acid, glycolic acid or oligomer acids are incorporatedinto the polymer-drug solution, it can considerably reduce or eliminatethe molecular weight reduction of the polymer.

It is also now made possible to minimize or eliminate peptide polymerconjugates (impurities) in polymer compositions by carrying out certainmanipulations during the polymer composition preparation process i.e.,by selecting a right polymer having an acid number of between 10 and 40or a right molar ratio of different monomers in a copolymer and/or byadding one or more low pKa acids to the polymer composition.

It has also been found in the present invention that one can obtainstable solutions containing GnRH analogues at least at levels typicallyused in polymer compositions without the associated solubility and/orgelling problems by using a freeze-dried GnRH analogue and at least onesolvent in which the GnRH analogue dissolves as components of thepolymer composition.

Accordingly, in one aspect relating to the molecular weight reduction ofthe polymer, the present invention discloses polymer compositions andmethods for preparing such compositions. In an embodiment, thecomposition has a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer (e.g.,poly(d,l-lactic acid), poly(l-lactic acid), poly(glycolic acid) orcopolymers of these monomers), at least one nucleophilic ingredientcapable of cleaving ester bonds of the polymer and causing molecularweight reduction of the polymer, and a low amount of an acid additive.The nucleophilic substance may be a solvent (e.g., methanol, propanol,isopropanol, tert-butanol or benzyl alcohol) or a compound such as apeptide, ketotifen, thioridazine, olanzapine, risperidone, oxybutynin,naltrexone, octreotide, leuprolide, orntide or Woc4D or pharmaceuticallyacceptable salts thereof. The acid additive can be lactic acid, glycolicacid, acetic acid, glyceric acid, benzoic acid, propanoic acid orcarboxy terminated oligomers of lactic acid, carboxy terminatedoligomers of glycolic acid, individually or a combination of theseacids. It can be used in an amount of about 0.1% to about 50% relativeto the amount of the polymer in the composition. Due to the presence ofsuch an acid additive in the polymer composition, the polymer in thecomposition is less susceptible to molecular weight reduction ascompared to the composition without the acid additive.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a composition for adispersed phase formulation having a GnRH analog, and an acid additiveso that the GnRH analog remains in soluble form and/or is resistant togelling. A method of increasing the solubility of a high level of a GnRHanalogue in a polymer containing dispersed phase is also provided. Itinvolves dispensing a high level of the GnRH analogue, adding a firstorganic solvent to the GnRH analogue to form a first organic mixture,dissolving an amount of a polymer in a second organic solvent to form asecond organic mixture, mixing the first and second organic mixtures toform the dispersed phase, and adding an amount of an acid additive tothe dispersed phase. The amount of the acid additive in the dispersedphase should be sufficient to increase the solubility of the high levelof the GnRH analogue in the dispersed phase without affecting the soluterelease characteristics of any solute bearing microspheres prepared fromthe dispersed phase.

In yet another aspect, the present invention also provides methods forsuppressing the secretion of gonadotropins or steroids in a mammal byadministering an effective amount polymer composition of a GnRH analoguethat is made more soluble and/or resistant to gelling according to thepresent invention together with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrierand/or diluent. It includes methods for treatment of hormone related orsteroid-dependent pathologies. The polymer compositions of the presentinvention can be administered to mammals subcutaneously,intramuscularly, intravenously, intranasally, intravaginally orintrarectally to achieve the desired effects such as applicationscalling for reversible suppression of gonadal activity, in particularreversible suppression of testosterones. Effective dosages can vary withthe form of administration and the particular species of mammal beingtreated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a histogram showing molecular weight reduction of PLGA inblank and Leuprolide containing DP stored at 25 C for 24 hours.

FIG. 2 is a histogram showing molecular weight reduction of PLGA inblank and Leuprolide containing DP Stored at 40 C for 24 hours.

FIG. 3 is a histogram showing molecular weight reduction of PLGA inblank and Octreotide containing DP stored at 25 C for 24 Hours.

FIG. 4 is a histogram showing molecular weight reduction of PLGA inblank and Octreotide containing DP stored at 40 C for 24 Hours.

FIG. 5 shows relationship between the reduction in molecular weight andrelated substance formation in leuprolide DP.

FIG. 6 shows relationship between the reduction in molecular weight andrelated substance formation in Octreotide DP.

FIG. 7 shows HPLC Chromatogram of Octreotide Extract with Peak Identity.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the effect of molecular weight of the polymeron the level of the related substances.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the effect of the target load on the amount ofrelated substances formed.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing the effect of percentage glycolide in thepolymer on related substance formation.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing relationship between the acid number and thepercentage of impurities for the microspheres prepared from PLGA50:50having a target load 10-12% (FIG. 11A) and from other polymers having atarget load 10-13% (FIG. 11B).

FIG. 12 is a histogram showing the effect of acid additives in thedispersed phase on related substance formation.

FIGS. 13A-C are graphs showing related substance formation during invitro release of peptide drugs from microspheres.

FIG. 14 shows the serum octreotide level in rats injected withoctreotide microspheres (microsphere lots GC091903, GC091203, GC091503,GC091703 and GC091603) containing no detectable impurities.

FIG. 15 shows the percentage increase in body weight compared to thetime when they received the octreotide microspheres (microsphere lotsGC091203, GC091503, GC091603, GC091703 and GC091903) containing nodetectable impurities. Control indicates body of weight of rats thatreceived only the diluent.

FIG. 16 is the HPLC chromatogram of the extract from a RG503Hmicrosphere, TV061297.

FIG. 17 shows the serum leuprolide and testosterone levels in prostatecancer patients administered with leuprolide microspheres made accordingto an embodiment of the invention. The molecular weight of the polymerin these leuprolide microspheres (Mw 14420) remained nearly the same asthe molecular weight (Mw 14321) of the raw polymer used for themicrosphere preparation.

FIG. 18 is a graph illustrating the effect of an orntide microsphere,GJ082100 prepared in accordance with the present invention, ontestosterone suppression in a rat model.

FIG. 19 is a graph illustrating the effect of another orntidemicrosphere, GJ082400 prepared in accordance with the present invention,on testosterone suppression in a rat model.

FIG. 20 shows serum orntide and serum testosterone levels in rats thatreceived orntide microspheres made of 85:15 PLGA (Mw 81 kDa; referred toherein as GC102301) at 27 mg/Kg body weight.

FIG. 21 shows serum orntide and serum testosterone levels in rats thatreceived orntide microspheres made of PLA (Mw 30 kDa; referred to hereinas GC010402) at 27 mg/Kg body weight.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to polymer and drug containingcompositions and methods for preparing such compositions for use inproviding a steady release of drugs over extended periods (sustainedrelease) in animals including humans. The present invention discloseshow to eliminate or lower the reduction of molecular weight of a polymer(e.g., PLGA or PLA) in the polymer composition, how to eliminate orreduce the formation peptide polymer conjugates in the polymercompositions and how to obtain stable solutions containing GnRHanalogues at least at levels typically used in sustained releaseformulations without the associated solubility and/or gelling problems.

The polymer compositions can be in the form of polymer solutions (alsoreferred to herein as dispersed phase or dispersed phase formulations).The polymer solutions or dispersed phase formulations of the presentinvention necessarily contain, among other things, a polymer and one ormore types of peptides or nucleophilic compounds (e.g., a pharmaceuticalagent or drug) and at least one solvent (e.g., methanol, propanol,isopropanol, tert-butanol, benzyl alcohol, dichloromethane anddimethylsulfoxide) in them.

The polymer compositions can be in one or more of other sustainedrelease forms such as implants or microspheres or microparticles or suchothers resulting from processing of the polymer solutions, describedabove, by using techniques known to those skilled in the art. Thesetechniques include, but not limited to, spray-drying, vacuum-drying,formation of emulsion and solvent evaporation or solvent extraction andspray-freezing. Thus, despite the use of the phrase “dispersed phase”throughout the description herein, the suitability of the polymersolutions is not in any way limited only to dispersal in another phase.

A polymer added to the polymer composition of the present invention canbe any polymer that is generally used in preparing polymer compositionsor sustained release formulations, and also retains desiredcharacteristics such as desired level biodegradability, permits higherdrug load, and in the case of microspheres made from emulsions, enhancessolvent removal from the dispersed phase or inhibit drug migration fromthe dispersed phase into the continuous phase. A number of such polymersare known to those of ordinary skill in the art. See, for example, U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,945,126, 5,407,609, 4,818,542, 4,767,628, 3,773,919 and3,755,558, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.In selecting a particularly desirable polymer for a given system,numerous factors can be considered for purposes of producing a producthaving the desired clinical characteristics such as biodegradability(e.g., release profile) and biocompatibility.

The polymer is preferably biodegradable and biocompatible. Preferredexamples of polymer matrix materials include poly(glycolic acid),poly(d,l-lactic acid), poly(l-lactic acid), copolymers of the foregoing,and the like. Other polymers or other compounds that can be used asmatrix materials are polycaprolactone, copolymer of caprolactone withlactide and glycolide, copolymer of lactide and glycolide withpolyethylene glycol (called PLGA-PEG or PLA-PEG), and alsopolyanhydride. Various commercially available poly(lactide-co-glycolide) materials (PLGA) or poly(d,l-lactic) acid (PLA)can be used in the microspheres of the present invention. For example,poly (d,l-lactic-co-glycolic acid) is commercially available fromBoehringer Ingelheim, Germany, Alkermes, Inc, Cincinnati, OhioBirmingham Polymers Inc., Birmingham, Ala. These copolymers areavailable in a wide range of molecular weights and ratios of lactic acidto glycolic acid. When the copolymer poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) isused, it is preferred to have selected molar ratios of lactide toglycolide in such a copolymer such that it has only 25% or less ofglycolide content, though other molar ratios can also be used bypracticing the present invention.

The nucleophilic compounds, in the context of the present invention, arethose compounds that are capable of cleaving ester bonds (nucleophilicattack) in the polymer or causing the polymer hydrolysis as a result ofthe nucleophilic attack. The ester bond cleavage obviously results inpolymer fragmentation and hence molecular weight reduction of thepolymer starting material in the dispersed phase formulation. Bypracticing the present invention, it is now possible to reduce themolecular weight reduction of the polymer despite the presence ofnucleophilic compounds in the dispersed phase formulation.

Regardless of the polymer used, presence of nucleophilic compounds inthe dispersed phase do cause molecular weight reduction absent measurestaken to prevent such reduction. It is believed that the nuclephilicgroup (group bearing lone pair of electron) attacks the ester bond ofthe polymer. The nucleophilic attack can be caused by groups containingreplaceable hydrogen atoms (particularly —SH, —NH2, ═NH, —OH) and thosethat do not contain replaceable hydrogen atoms (e.g., tertiary amine).Examples of nucleophilic compounds or agents that catalyze hydrolysis ofthe polymer in the dispersed phase include, but are not limited to,methanol, ethanol, propanol, triethylamine, ketotifen, thioridazine,risperidone, olanzapine, oxybutynin or naltrexone or a nucleophilicpeptide or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. The peptide canbe, for example, octreotide, leuprolide, orntide and Woc4D or a saltthereof.

Most of the polypeptide based drugs contain nucleophilic groups (—SH,—NH2, ═NH, ═N—, or OH) and at least certain amino acids in the peptidedrugs are effective nucleophiles toward an ester group of the polymer.Lysine in a peptide, for example, is highly nucleophilic due to primaryamine. Examples of the other nucleophiles are arginine, histidine,cystine (provided the —SH group is free and not formed an SS— bond),serine or an amino acid of the peptide having a free amino group.

In general, most of the polypeptide drugs are available as their salts(mostly as acetate salts). For example, leuprolide, orntide andoctreotide are available as acetate salts. Even though, the acetatemolecule is believed to form an ion pair with the amino groups of thepolypeptide it has been found by the present inventors that thenucleophilic groups, even as the acetate salt form, catalyze the polymer(e.g., PLGA) degradation. Further, there are a number of othernucleophilic compounds that are known to one skilled in the art.Therefore, the present invention is not limited to any particularnucleophilic compound specifically described herein and the presentinvention encompasses such other nucleophilic compounds known in the artor readily apparent to one skilled in the art having the benefit of thepresent disclosure.

Mostly, presence of nucleophilic peptide compounds in the dispersedphase also leads to the formation of peptide polymer conjugates.Accordingly, there are two issues associated with the nucleophilicattack of peptides on polymer in the polymer solution; polymer molecularweight reduction and adduct formation. Molecular weight of the polymermatrix and drug encapsulation (drug load) are two major factorsaffecting the release performance of the product. Purity of the drug isanother critical parameter for the quality of the product. Hence, it isnecessary to control the molecular weight reduction to the extentpossible to produce microspheres with very low impurity level.

It has now been found that adding a small amount of an acid additive tothe dispersed phase formulation can at least partially protect thepolymer in the dispersed phase formulation from the nucleophilic attackthereby controlling the undesirable molecular weight reduction.Specifically, a low pKa acid in small amount can lower the molecularweight reduction of polymer (e.g., poly-D,L-lactide-co-glycolide alsoreferred to herein as PLGA or poly-D,L-lactide also referred to hereinas PLA) induced by such nucleophilic attacks. Low pKa acids, as used inthe context of the present invention, are those that have a pKa value of5.0 or lower. Preferred low pKa acids, for example, are propoanoic acid(pKa=4.86), glacial acetic acid (pKa=4.76), benzoic acid (pKa=4.19) orderivatives thereof, glycolic acid (pKa=3.83), glyceric acid (pKa=3.25),lactic acid (pKa=3.08), carboxy terminated oligomers of lactic acid,glycolic acid or the combination of these acids at any ratio havingmolecular weight not greater than 1000. Particularly preferred acids forpreventing the molecular weight reduction of the polymer are glycolicacid, lactic acid and oligomer acids.

It has also been found in the present invention that the acid additivein the dispersed phase reduced or eliminated formation of conjugatesbetween the peptide and the fragments of the polymer, which conjugates(also referred to herein as peptide related substances) are consideredto be impurities for clinical purposes and hence are undesirable.

The amount of acid additive in the dispersed phase is such that it issufficient to confer its protective role against nucleophilic attack onthe polymer in the dispersed phase. The amount of acid in the polymersolution can be 5% or higher. The preferred amounts of acid additive mayrange from about 0.1% to about 5% in the dispersed phase. Theparticularly preferred amounts of acid additive are from about 1.0% toabout 10% in the dispersed phase.

Alternatively, the amount of acid additive to be added to the dispersedphase can also be determined based on the amount of a nucleophilic agentor in terms of the amount of polymer in the dispersed phase, i.e., interms of parts by weight of the acid additive per total weight of thepolymer or % of acid additive per % of polymer in the dispersed phase.If based on the amount and composition of nucleophilic agent such as asolvent, for example, methanol, the amount of acid can be equal to thatof the solvent nucleophilic agent. This way, the methanol or othernucleophilic agent induced MW reduction can be significantly reduced oreliminated. The amount of acid can be in stochiometric equivalent of thenucleophilic groups in the DP. In one embodiment, the amount of acid isas low as about 0.01% or 2% and as high as about 50% by weight of thepolymer. Preferably the % of acid, relative to or based on the polymerin the dispersed phase is from about 2.0% to about 20%. If the acidadditive being used is for the purpose of reducing molecular weightreduction of the polymer, the amount of acid may not be 100% relative tothe amount of the polymer in the dispersed phase. If the acid additivebeing used is for the purpose of preventing gelling (discussed furtherherein) higher amounts of acid may be used. For example, the amount ofacid may be 100% relative to the amount of the polymer in the dispersedphase. In some instances it can even exceed the amount of the polymer.

The acid additive may consist of only one low pKa acid or more than onesuch acid. The acid additive to be added to the dispersed phaseformulation can be either in a solution form or a non-solution form suchas, fine dispersion.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a dispersed phase forfabricating microspheres is prepared as follows: a nucleophilic compound(e.g. a polypeptide or protein based drug containing nucleophilicgroup(s)) and an amount of an acid additive are mixed as such, or thesetwo dissolved or dispersed in a suitable organic solvent (e.g., methanolor DMSO) to form an organic solution or suspension. Separately an amountof a polymer material (e.g., PLGA) is dissolved in a suitable organicsolvent (dichloromethane or DCM) to form a polymer solution. Thenucleophilic compound and/or agent containing solution or suspension andthe polymer solution are mixed to form the dispersed phase. Suitablesolvents for preparing polymer containing dispersed phase are known inthe art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,126. Formation of thedrug solution or suspension and polymer solution separately could reducethe dissolution time involved in making the dispersed phase. However,the drug and polymer solution could be formed by dissolving themtogether.

It should be noted that the dispersed phase may contain more than onenucleophilic compound or agent. For example, in the case of a dispersedphase containing octreotide dissolved in methanol, both octreotide andmethanol can cleave ester bonds of the polymer in the dispersed phase.In such cases the molecular weight reduction of the polymer in thedispersed phase can be more severe than the dispersed phase containingonly one nucleophilic compound. On the other hand, the dispersed phasecontaining octreotide dissolved in DMSO, only octreotide can cause esterbond cleavage of the polymer in the dispersed phase and, therefore, themolecular weight reduction of the polymer in the dispersed phase is lesssevere than the dispersed phase containing more than one nucleophiliccompound.

Although methanol induced molecular weight reduction can be controlledto a significant extent by adding a low pKa acid to the dispersed phaseformulation, higher amount of methanol in the dispersed phase mayrequire higher amount of low pKa acid. Too much acid (>50% in DP) couldmake the dispersed phase less susceptible for droplet formation in anaqueous continuous phase to form microsphere. However, there will not beany problem in forming microspheres by O/O process. Even to formmicrospheres by O/W process, compromise amount (ratio) of methanol andlow pKa acid could be used in the DP which considerably reduce the MWreduction of the PLGA, and also does not affect disperse phase dropletformation in an aqueous continuous phase. If higher amount of strongacids are desired in the dispersed to minimize the molecular weightreduction and/or related substance formation, alternative solvents suchas DMSO and dimethylacetamide (DMAc) can be used. Both DMSO and DMAc arebiocompatible solvents. These solvents are miscible with DCM. Thesesolvents can be easily extracted into the continuous phase whilepreparing the microspheres. Most peptide based drugs are highly solublein these solvents. A dispersed phase containing DMSO and DMAc can accepthigher amount of strong acids without any phase incompatibility problem.

But once microspheres are formed using the dispersed phase formulation,MW reduction of the polymer is not usually seen. It can be determined bytesting release profile. The present inventors prepared leuprolidecontaining microspheres and found the same release profile from themicrospheres after 6 month storage at 40° C., two year storage at 25° C.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the preferred drugs may bepeptide or protein drugs, steroidal drugs, non-steroidal drugs, andother pharmaceutically active compounds. These include somatostatinanalogs, octreotide, lanreotide (LANREOTIDE™), Vapreotide, Woc-2A,Woc-2B, Woc-3A, Woc-3B, Woc-4, Woc-4D and Woc-8 and their salts,compounds with LHRH activity, LHRH analogs, orntide, leuprolide, athyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), a luteinizing hormone (LH), afollicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and their derivatives, growth factorssuch as growth hormone releasing peptide (GHRP-1), GH-RH, calcitonin,tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interferon, erythropoietin and others. Thepreferred drugs are peptide drugs including a lanreotide octreotide,leuprolide, orntide, Woc4D.

Microencapsulation of peptides into biodegradable and non-biodegradablepolymers typically involves the formation of a dispersed phase (polymersolution). The dispersed phase includes the peptide of interest, thepolymer(s), and the solvents for the drug and the polymer. If thesolvent for the polymer and the solvent for the drug are not miscible,the dispersed phase will be an emulsion. For peptide drugs, often thedispersed phase is a water-in-oil emulsion (W/O). It is not necessarythat the drug need to be dissolved in a solvent, and the drug could besimply dispersed uniformly as a solid suspension in a polymer solution(S/O system). With appropriate solvent or solvent mixture, it ispossible to make the dispersed phase as homogeneous solution (O) forpeptide drugs. Emulsification of the dispersed phase into a continuousphase, and the removal of solvent from the dispersed phase results inmicrosphere/microcapsule formation. The continuous phase could be anaqueous solution, or it could be another oil phase immiscible with thedispersed phase. Thus, the microspheres/microcapsules (which aresubstantially spherical polymeric particles containing biologicallyactive agents) can be formed by W/O/W, S/O/W, O/W, W/O/O, S/O/O, or O/Osystem (details of the microsphere/microcapsule preparation can be foundin “Handbook of Pharmaceutical Controlled Release Technology, Donald L.Wise (ed.), Mercel Dekker, 2000, Chapter-16, Microsphere Preparation bySolvent Evaporation Method, by A. Atila Hincal and Sema Calis, Pages329-343”).

In a preferred embodiment, the peptide drug or other active agent ispart of a dispersed phase and microspheres are prepared from thedispersed phase. Prior to incorporating the drug or the active agentinto the dispersed phase, it is usually necessary to dissolve the activeagent in a solvent. Solvents for the active agent will of course varydepending upon the nature of the agent. Typical solvents that may beused in the dispersed phase to dissolve the active agent include water,methanol, ethanol, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), dimethyl formamide,dimethyl acetamide, dioxane, tetrahydrofuran (THF), acetonitrile,methylene chloride, ethylene chloride, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform,lower alkyl ethers such as diethyl ether and methyl ethyl ether, hexane,cyclohexane, benzene, acetone, ethyl acetate, and the like. Selection ofsuitable solvents for a given system will be within the skill in the artin view of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment of the invention, the dispersed phase is a homogeneoussolution of a drug, preferably a peptide drug and a polymer in a solventmixture. In the context of peptide-containing microspheres, impuritiesrefer to hydrophobic impurities. Specifically, the impurities or peptiderelated substances referred to herein are adducts between the peptide(e.g., octreotide) and the building blocks of the polymer (e.g., PLGAmonomers and oligomers). The impurity problem is more applicable, butnot totally unique, to the microsphere process in which a homogeneoussolution of a peptide drug and a polymer is used. It is believed that asolution of peptide and the polymer together form a favorable conditionfor such adduct formation because of the intimate contact between thedrug and the polymer.

The hydrophobic related substances can be detected by HPLC analysis. Inthe case of Octreotide microspheres, hydrophobic related substancesfound by HPLC are octreotide related peptides formed by the reaction ofamino group of octreotide and the glycolide, lactide monomers or dimers.Among the amino acids in octreotide, Lysine and the terminal amino groupof “D-Phe” are responsible for these compounds. Serine may also inducesome amount of impurities. Greater amount of related substances may befound with glycolide monomer and dimer compared to lactide monomer anddimer. Majority of the related substances are formed with glycolidefragments. It is believed that the glycolide may be more reactive to theamino groups. The same trend can be observed with other somastostatinanalogues such as WOC4D. It is possible that microspheres with peptideshaving reactive amino group (such as lysine, or arginine, histidine andcystine). Further, a peptide with a free amino group as the end group ofthe peptide may also induce related substance formation. The impuritiesin such microspheres may be minimized to the acceptable levels orcompletely eliminated simply by practicing the present invention.Specifically, the impurities in peptide microspheres can be minimized orcompletely eliminated by selecting a right polymer and target loadand/or by adding acids to the microsphere formulations. Target load isthe theoretical drug content expressed as percentage composition of thedrug in the microspheres, if all the drug were encapsulated in themicrosphere. This is the percentage ratio of the drug to the totalamount of drug and the polymer.

The following general cosiderations should be kept in mind in anyefforts to eliminate or reduce impurities in microspheres: (i) Higherthe lactide content in PLGA microsphere, lower will be the amount ofrelated substances and the microspheres prepared from 100% PLA will haveleast amount of related substances; (ii) higher the PLGA molecularweight, higher will be the related substances; higher the target load inPLGA, higher will be the level of the related substances; and (iii)lower the level of extractable oligomers in PLGA, higher will be thelevel of related substances; hydrophobic PLGA (end blocked PLGA) canproduce more related substances compared to the hydrophilic PLGA (freeacid end group).

It should be noted that, besides the lactide content, the acid number ofPLA or PLGA is another factor in the polymer selection step that wouldplay role in minimizing or eliminating impurities in microspheres. Acidnumber of the polymer is the “mg” amount of potassium hydroxide requiredto neutralize the acid present in one gram of the polymer. As endblocked polymers do not have free acid group, the acid number of suchend blocked polymers will be zero or negligibly small. Free acid endgroup polymers will have some acid number. Lower molecular weightpolymers will have more acid end groups, and will have higher acidnumbers. Extractable oligomer acids in microspheres may also contributeto the acid number, while not affecting the weight average molecularweight (Mw). Generally speaking, acid number shows a relationship tomolecular weight, more towards the number average molecular weight.Listed below in Table 1A are some of the commonly used free acid groupcontaining polymers in our study and their acid numbers.

TABLE 1A Acid number of some polymers Polymer & % Source Lactide Lot# MwMn Acid No. R203H (BI) 100 86034 27325 20877 9.0 R202H (BI) 100 3403812855 9592 14.1 100DL1AP 100 00-141-25 5626 3131 29.5 (Alkermes)100DL1AP 100 00-141-21 7665 4136 21.5 (Alkermes) DL-PLA iv 100 D991156477 5296 19.9 0.11 (BPI) DL-PLA iv 100 D99120 16761 14212 9.6 0.22(BPI) 8515 PLGA 85 X97010 16692 10217 9.4 (BPI) 8515DL2A 85 96-11-17813924 9279 19.2 (Alkermes) 8515DL1AP 85 99-120-190 9699 6664 13.6(Alkermes) PLGA7525H 75 76045 14279 9789 14.0 (BI) 7525DL2A 75 96-11-13315289 10411 17.2 (Alkermes) 7525DL2A 75 1151-514 12067 6049 14.8(Alkermes) RG504H 50 34020 41077 30157 5.9 (Alkermes) RG503H 50 28133435151 25739 6.5 (Alkermes) RG503H 50 241802 32987 24553 7.4 (Alkermes)RG502H 50 34035 7831 4544 29.3 (Alkermes)

The acid number of PLA or PLGA polymer compositions (e.g., microspheres)may range from about 0.5 to about 50, preferably 5 to 40, morepreferably 10 to 35. Polymers with acid numbers 40-45 may be used inshort-term release formulations (e.g., for release in few days). Thetarget load can be up to 15%. The acid number of the selected polymerfor the microsphere can be under 14 if one or more specific acids arealso incorporated (referred to herein as acid additive(s)) into themicrosphere during the microshpere preparation process. A non-exclusivelist of examples of acid additives are glacial acetic acid, lactic acid,glycolic acid and stearic acid. See the above text for examples otheracids that can be used in the present invention. Accordingly, dependingon the microsphere formulation, one skilled in the art having thepresent disclosure in hand would know how to select a polymer with asuitable acid number and the target load so that the total impuritywithin the peptide containing microspheres is at or below the acceptablelevel. If acid is added to DP, then even high MW PLGA50:50 can be usedand at the same time impurity levels can be reduced to the acceptablelevels or completely eliminated.

The preferred acid numbers and the target load to achieve a totalimpurity of less than 2% in PLGA microspheres are as follows:

In PLGA50:50 microspheres, impurity levels below 2% can be achieved byusing a polymer having acid number greater than 25 and also having thetarget load less than 15%. In PLGA75:25 microspheres, impurity levelsbelow 2% can be achieved by using a polymer having acid number greaterthan 15 and the target load less than 13%. In PLGA85:15 microspheres,impurity levels below 2% can be achieved by using a polymer having acidnumber greater than 12, more preferably greater than 14 and the targetload less than 15%.

Microspheres thus prepared by adopting one or more of the above stepscould still produce impurities during the release. For example, thefollowing observation has been made by the present inventor(s): Duringthe in-vitro release in phosphate buffer, at pH 7.2, the amount of theseimpurities increased and often exceeded 50%. In vivo study alsoconfirmed such observation. Thus, occurrence of impurities also dependsupon the pH of the release media. Release of drug in acidic environmentproduces less related substances compared to the release in neutral oralkaline pH. The impurity formation during the release from the PLGA/PLAcould be minimized by including less water soluble acids in themicrosphere. When these acids remain longer in the microsphere, theyprovide low pH environment resulting in lower impurities. Even with lowpH environment inside the microspheres, PLGA with higher glycolidecontent may produce impurities. In such cases, either PLA or PLGA withglycolide content less than 25% is preferred. If an acidic environmentis present inside the microspheres during in vivo release, e.g. in atissue of an animal or human, the microspheres prepared according to thepresent invention may not produce significant amount of relatedsubstances. Preferred microsphere product is one formed using PLGA 85:15or 75:25PLGA.

As already referred to above, the present invention also relates to GnRHanalogue containing polymer formulations that show increased solubilityof the analogue and resistance to gelling despite the presence of highlevels of the analogue in the formulation. A number of GnRH analoguesare known in the art. These include both agonists and antagonists ofGnRH. These include, for example, orntide, antide, cetrorelix,ganirelix, abarelix, leuprolide, nafarelin, triptorelin, goserelin,buserelin, Azaline and others known in the art. See also, for example,the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,480,969 and 5,656,727, and Jiang et al., 2001, J.Med. Chem., 44:453-467.

A high level of GnRH analogue means an amount of GnRH analogue that isno longer soluble in a solvent, even if soluble the resulting solutionis unstable and gels due to the high level. The solvent referred to inthis definition is one that is typically used for dissolving a GnRHanalogue in preparing dispersed phase formulations. The solvents thatare typically used are water, methanol, ethanol, dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO), dimethyl formamide, dimethyl acetamide, dioxane, tetrahydrofuran(THF), methylene chloride, ethylene chloride, carbon tetrachloride,chloroform, diethyl ether, methyl ethyl ether, hexane, cyclohexane,benzene, acetone and ethyl acetate. However, most of the GnRH analogsare soluble only at certain concentrations (at very low concentrationsof antagonists and moderate concentrations of agonists) beyond whichthese analogs pose solubility and gelling problems when dissolved inthese solvents. For example, orntide, which is antagonist of GnRH, issoluble in aqueous media only at concentrations less than 5 mg/mL evenat a pH lower than 5. Further, it tends to gel even at that lowconcentration and whereas the desired concentration of orntide in aformulation for microspheres is at least 100 mg/mL. Once orntide gels inDP, it can be very difficult to bring it back to solution. Leuprolide,which is an agonist of GnRH, is soluble at concentration of 140 mgleuprolide/mL of methanol without gelling problems. The concentration of240 mg leuprolide/mL of methanol, however, does not form a stablesolution; the solution turns hazy in few minutes to hours followed bygelling of the hazy solution.

By practicing the present invention, however, one skilled in the art canovercome problems associated with the use of high levels GnRH analoguesin a formulation. Such formulations can be used to produce microspheres,implants or other types of sustained release drug delivery systems.Further, such formulations can be filtered using micro filters. Ofparticular importance, one would be able to obtain filter sterilizableGnRH analog containing formulations for use in the manufacture ofmicrospheres. That is, the formulations prepared according to thepresent can be filtered to obtain sterile solutions. For example, thesolutions prepared according to the present invention can be filteredusing a 0.2μ filter.

Of the GnRH analogs, GnRH antagonists are more difficult to dissolve insolvents than GnRH agonists. As a result, GnRH antagonists may, but notnecessarily, require more than a single step procedure to bring a highconcentration of GnRH antagonists into a clear solution that iscompletely resistant to gelling, and also may require higher amount ofacid. Preferred GnRH antagonists are orntide, cetrorelix, ganirelix, andabarelix and preferred GnRH agonists are leuprolide, triptorelin, andgoserelin. Now, referring to orntide, a GnRH antagonist, as an example,various approaches to increase the solubility of orntide present insolvents at high levels (i.e., at levels typically used for dissolving aGnRH analogue and for preparing dispersed phase formulations areexplained below.

In order to prepare a sustained release form using polyester matrix suchas PLGA containing dispersed phase formulations, orntide is dissolved ina solvent or a mixture thereof with which the polymer containingsolution is compatible or miscible. But, the typical formulation having,for example, methylene chloride, methanol, PLGA and orntide does notproduce a stable clear solution. It forms a hazy suspension which oftengels before completing the preparation of the formulation. Microspheresprepared from a hazy and gelling solution do not show consistent releasecharacteristics. The gelling solution poses a problem for sterilefiltration for aseptic manufacturing of the microsphere formulation. Forexample, in an attempt to obtain orntide microspheres, the presentinventors prepared a dispersed phase (DP) by mixing the orntide-methanolslurry and PLA or PLGA-DCM solution. The concentration of orntide wasabout 1.7%. The DP thus obtained was partially clear to hazy and showeda considerable increase in viscosity even during a short period ofstorage (5-10 min) before dispersing it into a continuous phase (CP,0.35% PVA solution) for making the microspheres. The DP could not befiltered through 0.22 micron filter due to the characteristics such aslack of clarity and the tendency to gel. But by practicing the presentinvention, the above insolubility and gelling problems can be overcome.

Stability of the orntide containing DP against gelling can be improvedby adding sufficient amount of an acid or a combination of acids (anacid or a combination of acids is also referred to herein as acidadditive). One skilled in the art would know what is a sufficient amountof an acid additive. For example adding glacial acetic acid to the DPcan improve the stability. Lactic acid can be used instead of glacialacetic acid. Lactic acid is hygroscopic and is available as 85-90%solution in water. It should be noted that the water content in theacids in larger amount may cause phase separation. Accordingly,anhydrous acids or acids containing water at less than 5% are preferred.

Yet another step for achieving a clear dispersed phase with the minimumrequired amount of acid is by following a certain order of adding thesolvent components to the orntide. Preferred order of addition is asfollows: First, glacial acetic acid or other suitable acid is added tothe orntide to form a solution. To this solution, methanol or some othersuitable solvent is added; a solvent that is typically used to dissolvea GnRH antagonist or a solvent portion in which both the antagonist andthe polymer are soluble (e.g., DCM) is added to form a solution beforeadding any other component to this solution. Then, a portion of the DCMor other solvent that is used for dissolving the polymer in thecomposition is added. Preparing the orntide in this manner does notrequire heating or warming at 40 C to achieve clear solution and also itprevents initial gelling. This solution is then added to a polymer(e.g., PLGA or PLA) solution and mixed well. Alternatively, polymersolution in suitable solvent can be added to the orntide solution inacid. This way, a clear, stable, non-gelling and filterable DP can beobtained. If any other solvent is added to orntide before adding anddissolving the orntide in an acid, the tendency to form the gel ishigher.

Orntide has better solubility at low pH buffer. To achieve good drugincorporation efficiency, the CP may be buffered to, for example, pH7 to9. The buffering capacity of CP should be high enough to neutralize theacid added to the DP formulation without dropping the pH preferably notbelow 6.8, certainly not below 6. This can be followed as a generalmethod for increasing the encapsulation efficiency into microspheres ofvarious drugs that are more soluble in acid than in basic solutions.

Another observation was that the raw material orntide prepared withoutthe special freeze drying process may require a considerably high amountof acid additive, greater than 20%. The dispersed phase composition thusobtained may not produce microspheres with low MW polymer with desiredrelease characteristics by O/W process, and under that situation thepreferred method of making microsphere is by O/O process. Likewise, theraw material orntide that is subject to the special freeze dryingfollowed by the addition of an acid additive may also require heating at40° C. but the amount of acid needed is considerably low and thedispersed phase composition thus obtained produces microspheres withdesired release characteristics. Thus, in the case antagonists of GnRH,the amount of acid required depends to some extent on whether theantagonist was freeze-dried or not. Adding the components in anappropriate order, however, does not require heating. As mentionedabove, as part of the order, ornitde must first be dissolved in an acidbefore adding other components such as methanol to prepare a dispersedphase formulation. This way, dissolution of orntide or other antagonistcan be achieved rapidly without any initial gelling. It will also resultin a very stable solution which is easily filterable through 0.2μ filteror smaller (0.1μ, 0.5μ and so on).

The present inventors have prepared several microsphere formulationsstarting with the TBA freeze dried orntide as the GnRH antagonist. Thesolubility and gelling problems were avoided by either acid addition tothe DP or with the proper order of adding components to make the DP.Both PLA or PLGA microspheres were prepared to achieve a 3 month, 6month or 1 year release formulations.

Now, referring to leuprolide, a GnRH agonist, as an example, theapproach(es) required to increase the solubility of leuprolide at highlevels in solvents (i.e., at levels typically used for preparingdispersed phase formulations and microspheres) is explained. Leuprolideis more soluble than orntide in solvents such as water or methanol.However, to dissolve a high level of leuprolide one or more of thesolubility increasing approaches described above with respect to orntidemay be followed. In general, adding a small amount of an acid (a low pKaacid) to leuprolide or a leuprolide containing DP should in most partovercome the solubility and gelling problems. Thus, in the case GnRHagonists freeze dried agonist as a raw material or a certain order ofaddition of components to prepare dispersed phase may be followed, butmay not be required.

In the context of GnRH analogues such as leuprolide, a trace amount ofpolyvalent anion in leuprolide starting material may also induceleuprolide precipitation/gelling/insolubility problems, regardless ofthe level of leuprolide, in dispersed phase or even in a simpleleuprolide-solvent (methanol or DMSO) solution. Such impurity inducedinsolubility may be overcome by removing those ions using agents such asEDTA or other suitable chelating agents. The same procedure can beapplied to GnRH analogues that are antagonists.

The sustained release formulations of the invention may be used forhuman applications as well as non-human animals, such as dogs, pigs,monkeys, rats, mouse rabbits and other animals.

EXAMPLE(S)

The following examples further illustrate the present invention. Theexamples below are carried out using standard techniques, that are wellknown and routine to those of skill in the art, except where otherwisedescribed in detail. The examples are illustrative and do not limit theinvention.

A. Molecular Weight Reduction of Polyester Matrix and its Control inDispersed Phase Prepared with Methanol

Molecular weight reduction of PLGA in blank and a peptide containingdispersed phase prepared using methanol as a solvent and the control ofthe molecular weight reduction was carried out as detailed below.

1. Leuprolide as Peptide in the Dispersed Phase

Control of molecular weight reduction of PLGA in dispersed phase (DP)with leuprolide or without (i.e., blank) was studied. The DP is asolution of PLGA or PLA in solvents. The following materials andprocedures were used to demonstrate control of molecular weightreduction of PLGA in dispersed phase.

Leuprolide acetate, Lot#FLEUP 9905 (Bachem, Calif.); RG503H, Lot#290103(Boehringer Ingelheim); RG503, Lot#1002249 (Boehringer Ingelheim);Lactic acid, Racemic Lot#120K1733 (Sigma) with water content 10% orlower, achieved by drying a 85-90% solution in a desiccator chamberunder vacuum for a day; Glycolic acid, 98%, Ultra grade, Lot#118H3449(Sigma); Oligomer, obtained by degrading RG502H Lot#34035 (BI) by highertemperature and moisture (it was a viscous dark yellow color liquid andthe molecular weight by GPC showed Mw=533 and Mn=393); Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), Lot# CC939 (Burdick & Johnson); Dimethylacetamide(DMAc), Lot# CS08952AS (Sigma-Aldrich); Dichloromethane (DCM), HPLCgrade, Lot# BZ200 (Burdick & Johnson); Methanol (MeOH), HPLC grade, Lot#CE075 (Burdick & Johnson); Tetrahydrofuran (THF), HPLC grade, Lot#BW062, (Burdick & Johnson).

GPC Procedure: The DP samples were diluted with THF and assayed formolecular weight by GPC procedure. Specifically, the dispersed phase wasdiluted appropriately with THF to achieve the PLGA concentration ataround 10 mg/mL. Leuprolide is not soluble in THF and will precipitate.Even if the solution appeared clear, the GPC samples were alwaysfiltered through 0.45 micron PTFE syringe filter before analysis. Firstfew mL samples were discarded.

The columns used in the GPC procedure were Waters, Styragel HR-2,4.6×300 mm, For MW 500-20,000, Lot# T11991, Part# WAT045865 and Waters,Styragel HR-4, 4.6×300 mm, Fot MW 5000-500,000, Lot# T13211, Part#WAT045865 connected in series. Temperature of the columns were 35° C.THF (100%) was used as a mobile phase Flow rate was 0.4 mL/min. Detectorused was a refractive index detector Calibration standards were narrowmolecular weight polystyrene standards from Polymer Laboratories Inc,Amherst, Mass. The polystyrene standards used had MW 283,300, MW 68,900,MW 21,000, MW 4920, and MW1260.

Peptide Extraction from DP: Leuprolide acetate from the dispersed phasewas extracted after diluting the DP with DCM. To approx. 50 mg DP, added2 mL DCM and added 9 mL 0.1 M acetate buffer, pH 4. The contents weremixed for about 1 hour using a rotating wheel. The contents were thencentrifuged to obtain DCM droplets-free aqueous phase for HPLC assay.

HPLC Method: The column used in the HPLC method was C-18 Neucleosil,4.6×250 mm, 100 Å, 5 μm from Phenomenex. Mobile Phase was (A) 0.025 Mpotassium phosphate, pH 5.0 (B): Acetonitrile. The gradient was 80%-50%A in 55 minutes. The column temperature was ambient and the flow Ratewas 1.5 mL/min. Peak detection was at 220 nm.

The temperature during the formation of DP was 25-30° C., i.e., 25-30°C. was dissolution temperature. After the formation, the DP wasfiltered, and subjected to microsphere preparations or storage underappropriate temperature.

Molecular Weight Reduction in Blank DP: DPs were prepared using RG503Hwithout including leuprolide acetate. To the DP, various acids wereadded as shown in Table-1B.

TABLE 1B Blank Dispersed Phase Formulation with Acid Additives % AcidRG503H DCM MeOH Acid in DP* RG503H + DCM + MeOH 0.68 g 3.10 g 0.87 g 0N.A. RG503H + DCM + MeOH + G.AA 0.68 g 3.10 g 0.87 g G. acetic acid =0.017 g 0.4 RG503H + DCM + MeOH + LA 0.68 g 3.10 g 0.87 g Lactic acid =0.02 g 0.4 RG503H + DCM + MeOH + GA 0.68 g 3.10 g 0.87 g Glycolic acid =0.017 g 0.4 RG503H + DCM + MeOH + Oligomer 0.68 g 3.10 g 0.87 g Oligomer= 0.017 g 0.4 *Based on weight ratio

The DP formulation was divided into three portions and one portion wasdiluted in THF immediately by mixing 0.25 g DP and 3.0 mL THF. GPC wasperformed on these samples. The other two portions of the DP were placedin 25° C. and 40° C. stability ovens in sealed vials. After 24 hoursincubation, the DP samples were diluted with THF and assayed formolecular weight by GPC. See, Table-2 for the molecular weight values ofPLGA in DP incubated 25° C. or 40° C. for 24 hours.

TABLE 2 Mw values of PLGA in DP 25° C.-24 Hours 40° C.-24 Hours Mw %Change % Change DP component Initial Mw in Mw Mw in Mw RG503H + DCM +46585 38940 16.4 28476 38.9 MeOH RG503H + DCM + 45638 38329 16.0 2720940.4 MeOH + G.AA PLGA + DCM + 46128 41853 9.3 34361 25.5 MeOH + LAPLGA + DCM + 46053 42748 7.2 34902 24.2 MeOH + GA PLGA + DCM + 4602242283 8.1 32664 29.0 MeOH + Oligomer

There was reduction in Mw upon incubating the DP consisting of RG503H,DCM and MeOH. The presence of lactic acid, glycolic acid, and oligomeracids reduced the reduction in Mw. Under the experimental conditions,acids with very low pKa such as lactic (pKa 3.08) and glycolic (pKa3.83) were more effective in preventing MW reduction caused by methanol.Even with a fraction of the acid (less than or equal to 1 mol % to thatof the nucleophilic compound, methanol) in the dispersed phase, therewas influence on the molecular weight reduction.

Molecular weight Reduction in Leuprolide DP: DPs were prepared withleuprolide acetate and with various acidic additives as shown inTable-3.

TABLE 3 Leuprolide Containing Dispersed Phase Formulation with AcidAdditives Leup. % Acid Molar ratio of DP components RG503H DCM MeOHAcetate Acid in DP* Acid/Leup. Ac RG503H + Leup. 0.68 g 3.10 g 0.87 g0.17 g 0 N.A. N.A Ac + DCM + MeOH RG503H + Leup. 0.68 g 3.10 g 0.87 g0.17 g G. acetic 0.4 2.1 Ac + DCM + MeOH + G.AA acid = 0.017 g RG503H +Leup. 0.68 g 3.10 g 0.87 g 0.17 g Lactic 0.4 1.41 Ac + DCM + MeOH + LAacid = 0.020 g RG503H + Leup. 0.68 g 3.10 g 0.87 g 0.17 g Glycolic 0.41.64 Ac + DCM + MeOH + GA acid = 0.017 g RG503H + Leup. Ac + + 0.68 g3.10 g 0.87 g 0.17 g Oligomer = 0.4 0.32 DCM + MeOH + Oligomer 0.017 g*Based on weight ratio

The DP formulations were divided into three portions. One portion wasused for the molecular weight determination (GPC) and leuprolide purity(HPLC). Other two portions were placed at 25° C. and 40° C. in sealedvials. After 24 hours, the molecular weight of the polymer and thepurity of the leuprolide were assayed. The molecular weight of thepolymer in various DP samples and the change upon storage are shown inTable 4.

TABLE 4 Mw of polymer in DP and the Change 25° C.-24 Hours 40° C.-24Hours Initial % Reduction % Reduction DP components Mw Mw in Mw Mw in MwRG503H + Leup. Ac. + 42538 14533 65.8 5301 87.5 DCM + MeOH RG503H +Leup. Ac. + 44507 15700 64.7 5891 86.8 DCM + MeOH + G.AA RG503H + Leup.Ac. + 44969 23022 48.8 9675 78.5 DCM + MeOH + LA RG503H + Leup. Ac +44398 26361 40.6 10825 75.6 DCM + MeOH + GA RG503H + Leup. Ac. + 4391820593 53.1 8430 80.8 DCM + MeOH + Oligomer

As shown in Table-4, there was a considerable reduction in the molecularweight of the polymer in the DP containing leuprolide. Presence oflactic acid, glycolic acid, and oligomer acids reduced the extent ofmolecular weight reduction, much more efficiently compared to aceticacid.

Shown in FIG. 1 is a comparison of the Mw of the PLGA in blank and theleuprolide DP stored at 25° C. and in FIG. 2 is a comparison of the Mwreduction that occurred in the DP stored at 40° C. At 25° C., the acidadditives (lactic acid, glycolic acid, and the oligomer acids) wereeffective in reducing the leuprolide/induced molecular weight reductionof PLGA. At 40° C., the reduction Mw of the leuprolide containing DP wasvery high even in the presence of the acid additive. Using higher amountof low pKa acid will be more effective in preventing the MW reduction.

2. Octreotide as a Peptide in the Dispersed Phase

Control of molecular weight reduction of PLGA in DP with octreotide orwithout it (i.e., blank) was also studied. Octreotide acetate is apeptide which has two free amino groups, D-Phe (1^(st) place) and Lysine(5^(th) place). The DP is a solution of PLGA or PLA in solvents. Thefollowing materials and procedures were used to demonstrate control ofmolecular weight reduction of PLGA in dispersed phase with octreotide.

Octreotide acetate from Polypeptide Laboratories, Lot# PPL-OCT9901R;RG503H, Lot#290103 (Boehringer Ingelheim); RG503, Lot#1002249(Boehringer Ingelheim); Lactic acid, Racemic Lot#120K1733 (Sigma) withwater content 10% or lower, achieved by drying a 85-90% solution in adesiccator chamber under vacuum for a day; Glycolic acid, 98%, Ultragrade, Lot#118H3449 (Sigma); Oligomer, obtained by degrading RG502HLot#34035 (BI) by higher temperature and moisture (it was a viscous darkyellow color liquid and the molecular weight by GPC showed Mw=533 andMn=393); Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), Lot# CC939 (Burdick & Johnson);Dimethylacetamide (DMAc), Lot# CS08952AS (Sigma-Aldrich);Dichloromethane (DCM), HPLC grade, Lot# BZ200 (Burdick & Johnson);Methanol (MeOH), HPLC grade, Lot# CE075 (Burdick & Johnson);Tetrahydrofuran (THF), HPLC grade, Lot# BW062, (Burdick & Johnson).

GPC Procedure, conditions and peptide extraction from DP are the samefor octreotide example as those used for the leuprolide example above.

HPLC Method: The column used was C-18 Neucleosil, 4.6×250 mm, 100 Å, 5μm from Phenomenex and the column temperature was ambient. The mobilephase was (A) Water-0.1% TFA, (B) Acetonitrile-0.1% TFA. The gradientwas 20% B to 60% B over 25 minutes. The flow rate was 1.5 mL/min. Thepeak detection wave length was 220 nm.

Molecular Weight Reduction in Blank Dispersed Phase: The DispersedPhases were prepared using RG503H without including octreotide acetate.To the DP, various acids were added as shown in Table-5.

TABLE 5 Blank Dispersed Phase Formulation with Acid Additives DP % Acidcomponents RG503H DCM MeOH Acid in DP PLGA + DCM + MeOH 0.77 g 3.71 g0.87 g 0 N.A. PLGA + DCM + MeOH + G.AA 0.77 g 3.71 g 0.87 g G. Aceticacid = 0.037 g 0.7 PLGA + DCM + MeOH + 0.77 g 3.71 g 0.87 g G. AceticAcid = 0.073 g 1.5 G.AA + Pam.A Pamoic acid = 0.037 g 0.7 PLGA + DCM +MeOH + LA 0.77 g 3.71 g 0.87 g Lactic acid = 0.044 g 0.7 PLGA + DCM +MeOH + GA 0.77 g 3.71 g 0.87 g Glycolic acid = 0.037 g 0.7 PLGA + DCM +MeOH + Oligomer 0.77 g 3.71 g 0.87 g Oligomer = 0.037 g 0.7

The DP formulation was divided into three portions and one portion wasdiluted in THF immediately by mixing 0.25 g DP and 3 mL THF. GPC wasperformed on these samples. Two other portions of the DP were placed in25° C. and 40° C. stability ovens in sealed vials. After 24 hoursincubation, the DP samples were diluted with THF and assayed formolecular weight by GPC. See, Table-6 for the molecular weight values ofPLGA in DP incubated 25° C. or 40° C. for 24 hours.

TABLE 6 Mw values of PLGA in DP 25° C.-24 Hours 40° C.-24 Hours Mw %Change % Change DP components Initial Mw in Mw Mw in Mw RG503H + 5180741448 20.0 28225 45.5 DCM + MeOH RG503H + 49881 41787 16.2 27020 45.8DCM + MeOH + G.AA RG503H + 50739 40244 20.7 28914 43.0 DCM + MeOH +G.AA + PA PLGA + DCM + 51692 47071 8.9 38111 26.3 MeOH + LA PLGA + DCM +51269 46525 9.3 38393 25.1 MeOH + GA PLGA + DCM + 53052 46389 12.6 3584732.4 MeOH + Oligomer

As shown in Table-6, lactic acid and glycolic acid provided goodprotection for PLGA against molecular weight reduction followed byOligomer acid.

Molecular weight Reduction in Octreotide Containing DP: Dispersed Phaseswere prepared with octreotide acetate and with various acidic additivesas shown in Table-7.

TABLE 7 Octreotide Acetate Containing Dispersed Phase Formulation withAcid Additives DP Octreotide % Acid components RG503H DCM acetate MeOHAcid in DP RG503H + Oct. Act. + 0.77 g 3.71 g 0.096 g 0.87 g 0 N.A.DCM + MeOH RG503H+ Oct. Act + DCM + 0.77 g 3.71 g 0.096 g 0.87 g G.acetic acid = 0.038 g 0.7 MeOH + G.AA RG503H + Oct. Act + DCM + 0.77 g3.71 g 0.096 g 0.87 g G. acetic acid = 0.074 g 1.5 MeOH + G.AA + Pam.APamoic acid = 0.038 g 0.7 RG503H + Oct. Act + DCM + 0.77 g 3.71 g 0.096g 0.87 g Lactic acid = 0.045 g 0.7 MeOH + LA RG503H + Oct. Act + DCM +0.77 g 3.71 g 0.096 g 0.87 g Glycolic acid = 0.038 g 0.7 MeOH + GAPLGA + Oct. Act. + DCM + 0.77 g 3.71 g 0.096 g 0.87 g Oligomer = 0.038 g0.7 MeOH + Oligomer Note: Mole ratio of Acid to the MeOH is same asshown in Table 5

The DP formulations were divided into three portions. One portion wasused for the molecular weight determination by GPC and Octreotide purityby HPLC. The other two portions were placed at 25° C. and 40° C. insealed vials. After 24 hours, the molecular weight of the polymer andthe purity of the octreotide were assayed. The molecular weight of thepolymer in various DP samples and the change upon storage are shown inTable-8.

TABLE 8 Mw values of PLGA in DP 25° C.-24 Hours 40° C.-24 Hours Mw %Change % Change DP components Initial Mw in Mw Mw in Mw RG503H + DCM +42512 14539 65.8 7085 83.3 Octreotide + MeOH RG503H + DCM + 45061 1693162.4 7222 84.0 MeOH + Octreotide + G.AA RG503H + DCM + 47509 23952 49.610353 78.2 MeOH + Octreotide + G.AA + PA RG53H + DCM + 51207 31317 38.814869 71.0 MeOH + Octreotide + LA RG503H + DCM + 49888 33026 34.8 1601867.9 MeOH + Octreotide + GA RG503H + DCM + 50427 31594 37.4 16363 67.6MeOH Octreotide + Oligomer

As shown in Table-8, there was a considerable reduction in molecularweight of the polymer in the DP containing octreotide without theacid(s).

Shown in FIG. 4 is a comparison of the Mw change of the PLGA in blankand Octreotide DP stored at 25° C. and in FIG. 5 is a comparison of theMw change of the PLGA in blank and Octreotide DP stored at 40° C.Octreotide caused molecular weight reduction in PLGA, and the presenceof strong acids even in small amounts controlled the molecular weightreduction. At 25° C., the acid additives (lactic acid, glycolic acid,and the oligomer acids) helped the leuprolide induced molecular weightreduction of PLGA. At 40° C., the reduction in Mw of the PLGA inLeuprolide containing DP was very high even in the presence of the acidadditives.

B. Molecular Weight Reduction of Polyester Matrix and its Relationshipto Peptide-Polymer Adduct Formation in DP

Molecular weight reduction of PLGA in DP containing a peptide withnucleophilic group(s), led to the proportional increase in the formationof adducts between the peptide and the polymer material (also referredto herein as related substance or the conjugates).

1. Leuprolide DP:

Leuprolide extracted from the incubated DP was assayed by HPLC todetermine the adduct content. Multiple adducts from the differentfragments of PLGA were observed. These adducts eluted after theleuprolide peak. Shown in Table-9 is leuprolide related substancecontent in the incubated DP samples.

TABLE 9 Leuprolide Related Substance Content in the Incubated DP Samples25° C. 40° C. for 24 for 24 DP components Initial Hours Hours RG503H +Leup. + DCM + 0 1.19 5.23 MeOH RG503H + Leup. + DCM + 0.05 0.35 2.18MeOH + G.AA RG503H + Leup + DCM + 0.05 0.15 0.63 MeOH + LA RG503H +Leup + DCM + 0.05 0.15 0.46 MeOH + GA RG503H + Leup + DCM + 0.05 0.150.93 MeOH + OligomerWhile the DP containing glacial acetic acid as acid additive slowed therelated substance formation, the DP containing lactic acid or glycolicacid showed considerable reduction in related substance formation. Also,a clear relationship was noted between the molecular weight reductionand the related substance formation as illustrated in FIG. 3.Specifically, an exponential increase in the related substance formationto that of the molecular weight reduction was noted.

2. Octreotide DP

Impurity formation due to the nucleophilic attack of peptides on PLGA isanother problem, which affects the quality of the peptide containingmicrospheres. Octreotide extracted from incubated DP were assayed byHPLC to determine the adduct content. It was shown previously that theseadducts elute after the Octreotide peak, and that there will be multipleadducts formed from the different fragments of PLGA interacting with thetwo reactive amino groups, D-Phe end group and Lysine. Hereafter, thesehydrophobic impurities will be referred to as Octreotide relatedsubstances.

DP samples shown in Table-7, incubated at 25° C. and 40° C. were assayedfor the related substance content and compared to the initial sampleswithout incubation. Comparative data is shown in Table-10 below.

TABLE 10 Octreotidee Related Substance Content in the Incubated DPSamples 25° C. 40° C. for 24 for 24 DP components Initial Hours HoursRG503H + DCM + Octreotide + 0 13.95 47.59 MeOH RG503H + DCM + MeOH + 03.04 23.30 Octreotide + G.AA RG503H + DCM + MeOH + 0 0.95 8.10Octreotide + G.AA + PA RG53H + DCM + MeOH + 0 1.24 4.31 Octreotide + LARG503H + DCM + MeOH + 0 0.99 2.68 Octreotide + GA RG503H + DCM + MeOH 00.22 6.04 Octreotide + OligomerFIG. 6 shows the relationship between the Mw reduction in PLGA and therelated substance formation. There is a relationship between the relatedsubstance formation to the molecular weight reduction. Including low pKaacids helped reducing the related substance.C. Microspheres Prepared from Incubated DP with and Without an AcidAdditive

As shown above that the molecular weight of PLGA and purity of theleuprolide were affected by storing DP even at 25° C.

Shown here is the effect of storing DP on drug load and drugencapsulation efficiency. Two dispersed phases were prepared. See,Table-6. Soon after the preparation of the dispersed phase,approximately 0.125 g was removed to follow the Mw of the PLGA andapproximately 0.025 g was removed to follow the purity of Leuprolide.The remaining DP was placed at 30° C. for 16 hours (overnight) in asealed container. After the storage, a small portion of the DP wasremoved to determine the Mw of PLGA and the purity of Leuprolide asperformed initially. The remaining DP was subjected to the microsphereformulations.

TABLE 11 Dispersed Phase Formulations for Leuprolide MicrospheresComponent Leup DP Leup DP + LA RG503H 4.12 g 4.11 g Leuprolide acetate0.99 g 0.99 g DCM 18.93 g 18.74 g MeOH 5.27 g 5.27 g Lactic acid 0 0.114g % Lactic acid based on N.A 2.7% RG503H weight

TABLE 12 Properties of the DP before and after storage Property Leup DPLeup DP + LA Mw initial 46585 46128 Leuprolide Related Substances -initial 0 0 Mw after storage 14326 28359 % Reduction in Mw 69.2% 38.5%Leuprolide Related Substances after storage 0.53 0

As shown in Table 12 both DP formulations showed lower molecular weightfor the PLGA but the presence of lactic acid in the DP reduced themolecular weight reduction, and prevented the formation of relatedsubstances.

Properties of the microspheres prepared from the stored DP were comparedto the typical property achieved for a microsphere prepared fromnon-stored DP. See, Table 13.

TABLE 13 Properties of the Microspheres GJ040302 (MS GJ040902 (MSProperty of prepared from stored prepared from stored a typical Property“Leup DP”) “Leup DP with LA” MS batch Drug Load, %  5.6 ± 0.35% 4.33±% 14-16 Drug encapsulation   31%   24% 78-89 efficiency, % % LeuprolideRelated 6.04 ± 0.30% 0  2-4% Substances* % Drug in to CP soon 14.7%17.7%  ≈7% after MS formation % Drug found in CP- 50.9% 58.2% ≈10% final*By extracting the drug in acetate buffer

The incorporation of lactic acid eliminated the related substance in themicrospheres. The leuprolide DP which did not contain lactic acid showed0.53% related substance initially, and increased to 6.04%. The relatedsubstance formation was gradual for leuprolide microspheres preparedfrom a fresh DP that did not contain lactic acid (data not shown).Lactic acid in the DP protected leuprolide from related substanceformation during the entire microsphere process.

D. Effect of Solvent Used to Prepare DP on Molecular Weight Reduction ofPolymer

DP formulations, as shown in Table-14, were incubated for 24 hours at25° C. and at 40° C. to see the effect of DMSO and DMAc on molecularweight reduction compared to methanol. A DP, simply containing DCM andPLGA was also included in the experiment for comparison.

TABLE 14 DP Composition with Variety of Solvents DP Code RG503H DCMOther Solvent RG503H + DCM 0.85 g 3.87 g 0 RG503H + DCM + MeOH 0.85 g3.87 g MeOH: 1.12 g RG503H + DCM + DMSO 0.85 g 3.87 g DMSO: 1.12 gRG503H + DCM + DMAc 0.85 g 3.87 g DMAc: 1.12 g

The DP samples were incubated at 40° C. for 24 hours in sealed tubes.The molecular weight of the PLGA after incubation was as shown inTable-15.

TABLE 15 Mw and the Reduction Mw of PLGA Upon Incubation - Effect ofSolvent Mw RG503H + DCM 52257 RG503H + DCM + MeOH 25907 RG503H + DCM +DMSO 52150 RG503H + DCM + DMAc 52876

As shown in Table 15, the Mw of RG503H in the DP system free frommethanol remains unaffected. Leuprolide containing DP with DMSO insteadof methanol is the appropriate system to compare the effect of variousacids on preventing the leuprolide induced nucleophilic attack of PLGAester bonds.

DP samples listed in Table 16 were prepared and incubated at 25 and 40°C. for 24 hours. Both molecular weight and the leuprolide impurity werefollowed.

TABLE 16 DP formulations prepared with DMSO solvent Leup. Acid % acidbased DP components RG503H DCM Act. DMSO additive on total DP RG503H +Leup. Ac. + DMSO 0.85 g 3.87 g 0 1.52 g 0 N.A RG503H + Leup. Ac. +DMSO + G.AA-1 0.85 g 3.87 g 0.21 g 1.52 g GAA: 0.022 g 0.35 RG503H +Leup. Ac.. + DMSO + G.AA-2 0.85 g 3.87 g 0.21 g 1.52 g GAA: 0.044 g 0.70RG503H + Leup. Ac.. + DMSO + LA-1 0.85 g 3.87 g 0.21 g 1.52 g LA: 0.026g 0.35 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DMSO + LA-2 0.85 g 3.87 g 0.21 g 1.52 g LA:0.052 g 0.70 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DMSO + GA-1 0.85 g 3.87 g 0.21 g 1.52g GA: 0.022 g 0.35 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DMSO + GA-2 0.85 g 3.87 g 0.21 g1.52 g GA: 0.044 g 0.70 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DMSO + Oligomer-1 0.85 g3.87 g 0.21 g 1.52 g Oligomer: 0.022 g 0.35 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DMSO +Oligomer-2 0.85 g 3.87 g 0.21 g 1.52 g Oligomer: 0.044 g 0.70

Table-17 shows the Mw values before and after incubating the DP andcompares the percentage loss in Mw.

TABLE 17 Mw Change Upon Storing DMSO Containing Leuprolide DP 25° C.-24Hours 40° C.-24 Hours % Reduction % Reduction DP components Initial MwMw in Mw Mw in Mw RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DMSO 44564 39155 12.1 23470 47.3RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DMSO + G.AA-1 45925 40724 11.3 28063 38.9 RG503H +Leup. Ac.. + DMSO + G.AA-2 47019 42045 10.6 27897 40.7 RG503H + Leup.Ac.. + DMSO + LA-1 46581 41816 10.2 32804 29.6 RG503H + Leup. Ac. +DMSO + LA-2 46101 41515 9.9 32503 29.5 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DMSO + GA-146470 40435 13.0 24864 46.5 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DMSO + GA-1 47399 3795419.9 23612 50.2 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DMSO + Oligomer-1 47080 41951 10.934281 27.2 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DMSO + Oligomer-2 47463 43196 9.0 3564824.9

Thus, the storage of DP at 25° C. caused approximately 11% reduction inMw. Acid additives showed very little or no protection against Mwreduction. It is surprising to find that glycolic acid did not provideany protection against molecular weight reduction.

Table-18 compares the molecular weight reduction occurred in leuprolideDP containing methanol to that containing DMSO.

TABLE 18 Mw of polymer in DP and the Change 25° C.-24 Hours 40° C.-24Hours Initial % Reduction % Reduction DP components Mw Mw in Mw Mw in MwRG503H + Leup. Ac. + DCM + MeOH 42538 14533 65.8 5301 87.5 RG503H +Leup. Ac. + DCM + DMSO 44564 39155 12.1 23470 47.3 RG503H + Leup. Ac. +DCM + MeOH + G.AA 44507 15700 64.7 5891 86.8 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DCM +DMSO + G.AA 45925 40724 11.3 28063 38.9 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DCM +MeOH + LA 44969 23022 48.8 9675 78.5 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DCM + DMSO +LA 46581 41816 10.2 32804 29.6 RG503H + Leup. Ac + DCM + MeOH + GA 4439826361 40.6 10825 75.6 RG503H + Leup. Ac + DCM + DMSO + GA 46470 4043513.0 24864 46.5 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DCM + MeOH + Oligomer 43918 2059353.1 8430 80.8 RG503H + Leup. Ac. + DCM + DMSO + Oligomer 47080 4195110.9 34281 27.2

Thus, the Mw reduction induced by methanol was much higher compared tothe Mw reduction induced by leuprolide acetate.

The DP samples were also followed for the related substance formation.Table-19 compares the related substance formed in the DMSO containing DPincubated for 24 hours.

TABLE 19 Related Substance Formation in Leuprolide DP Containing DMSO25° C. 40° C. for 24 for 24 Initial Hours Hours RG503H + Leup.Ac. +DCM + 0 3.00 18.55 DMSO RG503H + Leup. + DCM + 0 1.39 8.46 DMSO + G.AA-1RG503H + Leup. + DCM + 0 0.98 6.49 DMSO + G.AA-2 RG503H + Leup + DCM + 00.34 1.80 DMSO + LA-1 RG503H + Leup + DCM + 0 0 1.48 DMSO + LA-2RG503H + Leup + DCM + 0 0 0.56 DMSO + GA-1 RG503H + Leup + DCM + 0 00.24 DMSO + GA-2 RG503H + Leup + DCM + 0 0.18 1.61 DMSO + Oligomer-1RG503H + Leup + DCM + 0 0.28 1.15 DMSO + Oligomer-2

As shown in Table-19, the DP without acid additive produced higheramount of related substance in presence of DMSO. Mw reduction was lessin the DMSO containing DP, because the ester bond cleavage was byleuprolide acetate only. Ester bond cleavage induced by leuprolideacetate could be associated with related substance formation. Methanolmay be competing with leuprolide acetate for the ester bond cleavagethereby producing less related substance. Also, there is a possibilitythat methanol may be converting back the leuprolide related substance toleuprolide. Presence of small amount of acid reduced the relatedsubstance formation considerably. There was no relationship between theMw reduction and the related peptide formation in the presence of DMSOin DP.

E. Microspheres with DP Having Methanol or DMSO

Leuprolide acetate loaded PLGA microspheres were prepared by a solventextraction procedure. Briefly, leuprolide acetate (0.3 g) and aceticacid (0.15 g) were dissolved in either MeOH (1.8 g) or DMSO (1.8 g). Thesolutions were then combined with a solution containing polymer (2.7 gmRG503H) in DCM (9 g). The DP samples thus prepared were stored in sealedcontainers at 25° C. for 24 hours.

Microspheres were prepared by dispersing the DP formulations in anaqueous solution containing 0.35% (wt/vol.) polyvinyl alcohol(continuous phase (CP)) using a homogenizer such as a SilversonHomogenizer (Silverson Machines, Waterside UK). The microspheresuspension thus formed was transferred to a 3-liter solvent removalvessel to complete solvent removal. The suspension was then filtered,washed and dried overnight at ambient temperature.

Two leuprolide containing microsphere batches were made using RG503H,with methanol in the dispersed phase, and with DMSO in the dispersedphase.

The methanol containing DP was prepared by mixing a solution of 2.7 gRG503H in 9 g DCM, and a solution of 0.3 g leuprolide acetate (pure) in0.15 g glacial acetic acid and 1.8 g methanol.

The DMSO containing DP was prepared by mixing a solution of 2.7 g RG503Hin 9 g DCM, and a solution of 0.3 g leuprolide acetate (pure) in 0.15 gglacial acetic acid and 1.8 g DMSO.

The DP samples thus prepared were stored in a sealed container at 25° C.for 24 hours. Microsphere batch BT040303 was prepared using the DPcontaining methanol which was stored for 24 hours, and the BatchGJ040303 was prepared using the DP containing DMSO which was also storedfor 24 hours.

Microsphere was prepared by dispersing the DP in to 1.5 lit CP, which isa 0.35% PVA solution. The dispersion was achieved using a Silversonhomogenizer, by stirring at 5000 RPM. While stirring the CP, DP wasdelivered, just below the homogenizer head. The microsphere suspensionthus formed was transferred in to a 3 liter jacketed bioreactor(Applikon) stirring at 800 RPM. The suspension was heated to 40° C.along with air sweep for the complete removal DCM. The suspension wascooled back to the ambient temperature, filtered, washed with plenty ofwater, and dried overnight under vacuum at ambient temperature.

Properties of the two microsphere batches were as shown in Table 20below.

TABLE 20 Properties of the microspheres. Property BT040303 GJ040303Components in the DP DCM, MeOH, Leuprolide DCM, DMSO, Leuprolideacetate, RG503H, Glacial acetate, RG503H, Glacial acetic acid aceticacid Target Load of Leuprolide 10% 10% acetate in the microsphere ActualLeuprolide content 8.506 ± 0.002 9.093 ± 0.002 by assay Drugencapsulation 85% 91% efficiency, % % Related Substance in the 1.83 ±0.28 1.39 ± 0.04 microsphere Molecular weight of the Mw: 18983 Mw: 35789polymer in the microsphere Mn: 7771 Mn: 15690 % Yield 77% 71% Bulkdensity, g/mL 0.82 0.41 Note: Molecular weight (Mw) of the raw polymerRG503H used for the batches was: 40812 and Mn: 19491.

Microspheres prepared with both DMSO and methanol in the DP had gooddrug encapsulation efficiency. The bulk density of the microsphereprepared with DMSO is higher, probably due to the DMSO being a goodsolvent for the polymer, which does not cause polymer to precipitate inthe DP droplets.

Both microsphere batches were prepared from a DP which contained glacialacetic acid. Hence the amount of related substance in the microsphere iscomparatively low, even though these microspheres are prepared with thestored DP (compare with Table-13).

F. Octreotide Microspheres

1. Preparation of the Microspheres

Octreotide acetate loaded PLGA and PLA microspheres were prepared by asolvent extraction procedure. Briefly, octreotide acetate was dissolvedin methanol, and combined with a polymer/methylene chloride solution.The subsequent octreotide/polymer mixture (dispersed phase) was thendispersed in an aqueous solution containing 0.35% (wt/vol.) polyvinylalcohol (continuous phase (CP)) using a homogenizer such as a SilversonHomogenizer (Silverson Machines, Waterside UK). The microspheresuspension thus formed was transferred to a 3-liter solvent removalvessel to complete solvent removal. The suspension was then filtered,washed and dried overnight at ambient temperature.

Various Octreotide microspheres were prepared from a clear dispersedphase containing the polymer, octreotide, methylene chloride (DCM) andmethanol. Octreotide acetate was obtained from Polypeptide Laboratoriesor Peninsula Lab. Polymer concentration was varied for the batches toobtain appropriate particle size and also to obtain efficient drug load.Methanol (MeOH) to DCM ratio was increased while making higher drug loadbatches to get a clear dispersed phase. The continuous phase was a 0.35%PVA solution in all preparations. In a typical preparation, CP was takenin a beaker and stirred using a Silverson homogenizer (standard emulsorscreen). To the stirring CP, the dispersed phase was added just belowthe Silverson head using a laboratory syringe with a bent needle. After30 sec to 1 minute homogenization, the entire suspension was transferredinto a 3 liter Applikon bioreactor for solvent removal. The solventremoval from the microsphere was achieved by initial CP replacement withwater followed by heating the suspension at 40° C. along with air sweep.After the solvent removal the microspheres were collected on a filtermembrane, washed and dried under vacuum.

Batch size 3 g and above were prepared by a continuous flow process.Dispersed phase and the CP were administered into a in-line mixture,while stirring the microsphere suspension was collected in a Applikonbioreactor and the solvent removal was performed as describedpreviously, for example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,126. The preparationparameters of the octreotide microspheres were as summarized inTable-21.

TABLE 21 Preparation Parameters of the Octreotide Microspheres StrrringL:G Dispersed Phase Components (g) Target Speed, Batch Batch PolymerRatio, % Mw Polymer Octreotide DCM MeOH CP Load % RPM size, g BT120798RG503H 50:50 30,000 2.0 0.25 9.66 1.10 1500 11.1 5500 2.25 BT121198RG502H 50:50 8,500 2.4 0.36 5.1 0.51 1500 13.0 5500 2.75 BT011599 RG503H50:50 30,000 2.0 0.38 9.66 1.10 1500 16.0 6000 2.4 BT020999 RG503 50:5032,000 2.22 0.28 9.66 1.10 1500 11.1 5500 2.5 BT021799 RG504H 50:5041,000 1.78 0.22 9.0 0.9 1800 11 5500 2.0 MG090899 PLGA75:25H 75:2514,000 1.74 0.26 8.3 2.1 1300 13.0 7000 2.0 MG091099 RG503H 50:50 30,0001.74 0.26 8.3 0.83 1300 13.0 7000 2.0 MG092299* RG503H 50:50 30,000 1.70.3 8.3 0.83 1300 15.0 7000 2.0 GJ032400 50:50DL2.5A 50:50 24,000 2.250.25 7.5 0.75 1500 10 7000 2.5 GJ032700 75:25DL2.5A 50:50 24,000 2.200.30 7.5 0.75 1500 12 6500 2.5 GJ032800 75:25DL3A 75:25 39,000 1.16 0.295.22 0.522 1000 20 6500 2.5 GJ033100 50:50DL2.5A 100:0 24,000 2.10 0.406.0 0.90 1200 16 6500 2.5 GJ040300 85:15DL2A 85:15 14,000 2.175 0.3256.5 0.85 1300 13 6500 2.5 GJ040500 75:25DL2.5A 75:25 24,000 1.837 0.3636.0 0.9 1200 16.5 6500 2.5 GJ042700 85:15DL2A 85:15 14,000 1.8 0.2 5.00.6 1000 10.0 6500 2.0 GJ050100 PLGA85:15 85:15 17,000 1.78 0.22 5.50.66 1100 11 6500 2.0 GJ050300 90:10PLGA 90:10 6500 1.78 0.22 4.0 0.481000 11 6000 2.0 GJ050800 PLA iv 0.11 100:0 7000 1.78 0.22 3.8 0.45 95011 6000 2.0 GJ050900 100DL2A 100:0 14,000 1.55 0.25 4.2 0.75 1000 146000 1.8 GJ051100 85:15DL2A 85:15 14,000 1.53 0.27 4.5 0.72 1000 15 60001.8 GJ051600 RG502H 50:50 8,500 1.80 0.20 4.5 0.5 1000 10 6000 2.0GC122001 7525DL2A 75:25 12,000 2.625 0.375 9.0 0.9 1500 12.5 6000 3.0*CP is 0.35% PVA with pH 7.2 buffer

2. Peptide-Polymer Adducts (or Hydrophobic Related Substances) in theOctreotide Drug Containing Microspheres

The drug content was determined by dissolving the dry microspheres inDCM and extracting the drug into acetate buffer, pH 4.0. The extractfrom most of the microsphere batches showed hydrophobic impurities(hydrophobic compared to octreotide) to a varying amount. It was foundthat incubating these microspheres at pH 37° C. in pH 7.4 phosphatebuffer enhanced these impurities, especially from a PLGA50:50 polymer.The structure of the hydrophobic related substances was determined byHPLC-MS/MS. Octreotide extract from RG503H microspheres that had beenincubated at 37° C. for about two weeks in phosphate buffer pH 7.4 wasanalyzed. Shown in FIG. 7 is a HPLC Chromatogram of Octreotide Extractwith Peak Identity. The HPLC chromatogram of the extracted drug showedadditional peaks appearing after the octreotide peak. Table-22 lists thestructure of the related substances. Most of the peaks are relatedsubstances formed with glycolide segment. It is obvious from thisanalysis that the PLGA with more glycolide content produced moreimpurities. The level of total impurity found in each of the batches(i.e., sum of the related substances eluted after octreotide peak) islisted in Table-23.

TABLE 22 The Structure of Related Substances Identified in FIG.-7 PeakNo. from HPLC (See, FIG. 1) Structure 1H-D-Phe-Cys-Phe-D-Trp-Lys-Thr-Cys- Thr-ol (Octreotide) 2H-D-Phe-Cys-Phe-D-Trp-[Lys + G]-Thr- Cys-Thr-ol  3aH-D-Phe-Cys-Phe-D-Trp-[Lys + G − G]- Thr-Cys-Thr-ol  3bH-D-Phe-Cys-Phe-D-Trp-[Lys + L]-Thr- Cys-Thr-ol 4H-D-Phe-Cys-Phe-D-Trp-[Lys + G − G − G]-Thr-Cys-Thr-ol 6H-D-Phe-Cys-Phe-D-Trp-[Lys + L − G]- Thr-Cys-Thr-ol 7H-D-Phe-Cys-Phe-D-Trp-[Lys + L − L]- Thr-Cys-Thr-ol 8 H-D-[Phe+ G]-Cys-Phe-D-Trp-Lys-Thr- Cys-Thr-ol 9 H-D-[Phe+ G]-Cys-Phe-D-Trp-[Lys + G]-Thr-Cys-Thr-ol 11  H-D-[Phe+ G]-Cys-Phe-D-Trp-[Lys + G − G]-Thr-Cys-Thr-ol

TABLE 23 Percentage Related substances Eluted after Octreotide peak inHPLC % Mw Target % Total Batch Polymer Lactide (Approx) Load, %Impurities Acid# BT021799 RG504H 50 41,000 11 7.91 5.9 BT020999 RG503 5032,000 11.1 14.03 0.5 BT120798 RG503H 50 30,000 11.1 6.71 7.4 BT011599RG503H 50 30,000 16.0 10.99 7.4 MG091099 RG503H 50 30,000 13.0 9.24 7.4MG092299 RG503H 50 30,000 15.0 11.73 7.4 GJ042800 RG503H 50 30,000 11.17.21 7.4 GJ032400 50:50DL2.5A 50 24,000 10 5.88 15.2 GJ033100 50:50DL2.5A 50 24,000 16 10.11 15.2 BT121198 RG502H 50 8,500 13.0 1.38 29.3GJ051600 RG502H 50 8,500 10 0.92 29.3 GJ032800 75:25DL3A 75 39,000 2011.38 6.7 GJ032700 75:25DL2.5A 75 24,000 12 7.98 11.0 GJ04050075:25DL2.5A 75 24,000 16.5 8.35 11.0 GC122001 7525DL2A 75 12,000 12.51.76 14.8 MG090899 PLGA75:25H 75 14,000 13.0 2.87 14.0 GJ050100PLGA85:15 85 17,000 11 3.73 9.4 GJ040300 85:15DL2A 85 14,000 13 0.6519.2 GJ042700 85:15DL2A 85 14,000 10.0 0.1 19.2 GJ051100 85:15 DL2A 8514,000 15 1.96 19.2 GJ050300 90:10 PLGA 90 6500 11 0.15 31.0 GJ050900100DL2A 100 14,000 14 0.54 22.2 GJ050800 PLA iv 0.11 100 7000 11 0.2319.9

3. Effect of PLGA Molecular Weight on Related Substances in OctreotideMicrospheres

The effect of molecular weight on related substances formation has beendemonstrated using PLGA 50:50 and PLGA 75:25 octreotide microspheres.Target loads for these batches were similar. There was a relationshipbetween the molecular weight of the polymer and the level of the relatedsubstances. See FIG. 8. More related substances were found in themicrospheres prepared from high molecular weight polymers.

4. Effect of Target Load on Related Substances in OctreotideMicrospheres

Target load, like the molecular weight, showed a direct relationship torelated substances formation. Batches were prepared with three PLGAswith varying target load. There was a clear relationship between theamount of related substances formed versus target load. The data isshown in FIG. 9.

5. Effect of Co-Monomer Ratio on Related Substances

The comonomer ratio had very significant influence on related substancesformation. Among the polymers tested, PLGA 50:50 showed the maximumrelated substances as shown in Table-23 above. Comparing the relatedsubstances of the batches prepared with similar molecular weightpolymers it is clear that increased glycolic acid content in the polymerincreased the level of related substances. See, FIG. 10.

6. Extractable Acid And Related Substances

The effect of extractable acid on related substances showed an inverserelationship (See the data below in Table 24).

TABLE 24 Relationship between Extractable Acid (Mole %) and RelatedSubstances (%) Polymer, Mw and Target Extractable Related BatchManufacturer Load, % acid, Mole % Substances, % GJ050100 85:15 PLGA fromBPI 11 0.0025 3.73 GJ042700 85:15 PLGA from Alkermes 10 0.01 0.1

Extractable acid in polymer was determined by dissolving the knownamount of polymer in DCM, extracting the water soluble fractions inwater, and titrating against standard alkali.

7. Effect of Polymer End Group

A batch of microspheres were prepared with an end-blocked polymer. Eventhough there is no free acid end group in the polymer, there may be afew acid end groups initially or there could be some additional acid endgroups formed upon polymer storage prior to microsphere formulation andduring microsphere formation by ester bond cleavage. Comparison of thesimilar Mw polymers with acid end groups and end-blocked groups showedthat the end-blocked polymer produced more related substances than thepolymer with acid end groups as shown in the Table 25 below.

TABLE 25 Effect of End group on Related substances Formation Acid TargetRelated Polymer Mw Number Load, % substances, % Batch RG503 32,000 <1 1114.06 BT020999 RG503H 30,000 7.4 11 6.71 BT120798

8. Effect of the Acid Number of the Polymer on Related SubstanceFormation

The acid number of the polymer is inversely related to the amount ofimpurity in the microsphere. Shown in FIG. 11 is the relationshipbetween the acid number and the percentage of impurities for themicrospheres prepared from PLGA50:50 having a target load 10-12% (FIG.11A) and from other polymers having a target load 10-13% (FIG. 11B).

9. Related Substance Formation During the Various Stages of MicrospherePreparation Process

Batch GJ042800 was prepared from RG503H and portions of the microspheresuspension were removed during various stages. The microspheres werefiltered on 1.2 micron membrane filter and air dried on the filteritself. The microspheres (partially dry) were dissolved in DCM and thedrug was extracted in acetate buffer. The level of related substancesfound at various stages are shown in Table-26 below.

TABLE 26 Percentage Related substances Found During Various Stages ofMicrosphere Formation Time from DP % Related Preparation Stageformation, min substances Dispersed Phase (before forming MS) 0 0.30Soon after MS formation 5 1.78 After RT water exchange 25 2.61 Afterheating ramp 74 4.55 30 minutes at solvent removal 104 6.02 60 minutesat solvent removal 134 6.58 Final microsphere 181 7.21 Dispersed Phase(stored at 40 C. for 4 hours) 240 2.64 Or 5.07

The related substances formed as the microsphere preparation processproceeded. In the dispersed phase only a small amount of relatedsubstances were found (0.3%). Soon after the microspheres were formedthe related substances increased to 1.78%. There was a raise in relatedsubstances by heating the suspension to 40° C. and during solventremoval more related substances formed. Storing the dispersed phase at40° C. did increase the related substances from 0.3% to at 2.86% ormore. The retention times and levels of the individual relatedsubstances were also studied (data not shown).

10. Effect of Adding Acids to the Dispersed Phase on Related SubstanceFormation

To 1.5 mg octreotide added 20 mg PLGA/PLA and dissolved in 0.5 mL DCMand 0.1 mL methanol. To this, 10 mg of glacial acetic acid,triethylamine, 85% lactic acid, glycolic acid or stearic acid was added.Samples were placed at 40° C. for 24 hour and 48 hour period. Followedby that to the sample added 2 mL DCM and extracted the drug in 0.1 Macetate buffer and assayed by HPLC. The samples included in the studyare listed in Table 27.

The hydrophobic related substances found in these samples after 24 and48 hour period are shown in FIG. 12. Elution of control sample showedsubstances that are impurities (2.5%) but not related substances, andfew of those impurities were also found in the standard octreotide.Presence of RG503H increased the related substances to 4-7%. A repeat ofthe RG503H study showed up to 18% related substances in 48 hourincubation. Presence of lactic acid to the RG503H system reduced therelated substances and made comparable to the control. Glycolic acidalso prevented the related substances formation in the RG503H-octreotidesystem. Acetic acid and stearic acid were less efficient than lactic andglycolic acids in reducing the related substances formation in theRG503H-octreotide mixture.

In the experiment in which RG503H and octreotide in DCM/methanolincubated for 24 and 48 hour, added lactic acid and continued incubationfor another 24 hours. The drug was extracted by the usual procedure. Bythis process lactic acid did not have any effect in reducing the relatedsubstances as these were already produced in the system prior to theincorporation of lactic acid. This shows that the presence of lacticacid initially in the dispersed phase prevented the amount of relatedsubstances, however later addition will not convert the relatedsubstances to the native drug. RG503 showed very high related substanceslevel after 48 hour incubation. Polylactic acids, both PLA iv 0.11 andR203H and also PLGA 85:15 showed very little related substances evenlesser than the control. Presence of triethylamine produced someimpurities, however did not show similarity to related substance byretention time. TEA with RG503H produced huge amount of relatedsubstances with RG503H, and to a lesser extent with PLA iv 0.11. Thus,it has been demonstrated that the addition of acids initially to thedispersed phase reduces the amount of related substances.

TABLE 27 Screening Study to Evaluate the Conditions for OctreotideRelated substances Formation # Code Composition Note 1 ControlOctreotide (1.5 mg) + DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) 2 Control + LAOctreotide (1.5 mg) + DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) + 85% Lactic acid (10μL) 3 RG503H RG503H (20 mg) + Octreotide (1.5 mg) + DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH(0.1 mL) 4 RG503H + LA RG503H (20 mg) + Octreotide (1.5 mg) + DCM (0.5mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) + 85% Lactic acid (10 μL) 5 RG503H + AA RG503H (20mg) + Octreotide (1.5 mg) + DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) + GlacialAcetic acid (10 μL) 6 RG503H + GA RG503H (20 mg) + Octreotide II (1.5mg) + DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) + Glycolic acid (10 mg) 7 RG503H + SARG503H (20 mg) ++ Octreotide (1.5 mg) + DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) +Stearic acid (10 mg) 8 SA Octreotide (1.5 mg) + DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1mL) + Stearic acid (10 mg) 9 RG503H − 40 + RG503H (20 mg) + OctreotideIII LA + 40 (1.5 mg) + DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) + 85% Lactic acid(10 μL) 10 RG503 RG503 (20 mg) + Octreotide (1.5 mg) + DCM (0.5 mL) +MeOH (0.1 mL) 11 PLA 0.11 PLA IV 0.11 (20 mg) + Octreotide (1.5 mg) +DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) 12 PLA 0.11 + TEA PLA IV 0.11 (20 mg) +Octreotide IV (1.5 mg) + DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) + Triethylamine(40 μL) 13 85:15 PLGA PLGA 85:15 (20 mg) + Octreotide (1.5 mg) + DCM(0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) 14 R203H R203H (20 mg) + Octreotide (1.5 mg) +DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) 15 RG503H + TEA RG503H (20 mg) + Octreotide(1.5 mg) + DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) + Triethylamine (10 μL) 16 TEAOctreotide (1.5 mg) + DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) + Triethylamine (10μL) 17 Polycarbonate Polycarbonate (20 mg) + Octreotide (1.5 mg) + DCM(0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) 18 Polysulfone Polysulfone (20 mg) + Octreotide(1.5 mg) + DCM (0.5 mL) + MeOH (0.1 mL) Note: II: GA was only partiallysoluble in the dispersed phase even at 40° C. III: To the extractprepared similar to #3, added 10 μL 85% lactic acid and incubatedfurther at 40 C. for 24 hours. IV: Four times the amount in #16 and #17,since the acid end group from the polymer is large and will neutralizesome TEA.

11. Octreotide Related Peptide Formation During In Vivo Incubation

The microspheres tested were prepared using RG503H (GJ091001), 8515DL1AP(GJ031401) and 100DL1AP (GJ012401). Blank microspheres withoutoctreotide in the study were used as controls. The properties of themicrospheres were as shown in Table 28 below.

TABLE 28 Properties of the microspheres used for in vivo incubationGC091001 GJ031401 GJ012401 Polymer RG503H 8515DL1AP 100DL1AP Acid Numberof the 7.4 13.6 21.5 polymer Target load  11%   11%  10% Method ofmaking O/W process O/W process O/W process the MS Drug Load 8.5% 10.2%8.5%

These microspheres were injected into rats subcutaneously and recoveredat appropriate time. In this working example, 100 to 250 mg microsphereswere suspended in 0.3 to 0.5 mL diluent consisting 6% mannitol, 0.5%carboxymethylcellulose and 0.1% Tween-80 in water. The suspension wasinjected to the subcutaneous region of the rats, at the site marked witha permanent marker. At appropriate time point, the rats were sacrificed,and the microspheres from the injection sites were excised andfreeze-dried. Subsequently, the particles were dissolved in a mixture of2 mL dimethylsulfoxide and 2 mL DCM, and extracted by adding 6 mL 0.1 Macetate buffer pH 4.0. The extracts were assayed by HPLC for the puredrug and related substance, and confirmed by mass spectrophotometer.Control (blank microsphere) did not show any peak by HPLC.

The levels of impurities (octreotide polymer fragment adducts) found inthe microspheres, recovered from the rat tissue, were as shown in Table29 below.

TABLE 29 Impurities (Related Substance) (% impurity) from themicrospheres after in vivo incubation Days GC091001 GJ031401 GJ012401 1430.1 12.5 8.6 22 46.2 17.1 7.4 30 52.9 21.7 10.0 41 52.9 24.1 12.6Separately, microspheres prepared from very similar polymers, howeverprepared by O/O process, were also studied. This set also includes thecommercially available Sandostatin LAR, and control microspheresprepared from PLA without drug. The properties of the microspheres areas shown in Table 30 below.

TABLE 30 Properties of the microspheres used for in vivo incubationSandostain FR072402 FR062602 FR071002 LAR Polymer RG503H 8515DL1AP100DLCO4 PLGA50:50- (Another name Glu of 100DL1AP) Acid Number 7.4 13.625.3 Not known of the polymer Target load 11%   8%  11% Not known Methodof O/O O/O O/O Not known making the MS Drug Load 10% 7.4% 9.2% Approx.5%

These microspheres were injected in to rat tissue and recovered on day14, 22, 32 and 40. Shown in Table 31 below are the impurity profiles,The impurities are the Octreotide adducts with the polymer fragments asevidenced by HPLC and Mass spec.

TABLE 31 Impurities (Related substance) from the microspheres after invivo incubation (% impurity) Day FR072402 FR062602 FR071002 SandostatinLAR 14 15.5 8.8 4.6 36.3 22 26.0 16.1 7.8 40.4 32 39.8 22.5 13.0 55.1 4049.7 24.8 11.8 55.3

12. Octreotide Related Peptide Formation During In Vitro Incubation

For this working example, about 100 mg of octreotide microsphere wasweighed into a 12-20 mL screw capped vial and added the release media.The release media were isotonic phosphate buffer, pH 7.4, 7.0 or 6. Thecontents were placed in a 37° C. shaking water bath. At each time point,the supernatant free from microsphere was carefully removed for HPLCanalysis, and the entire media was replaced with fresh media. Thecumulative release of octreotide and related substance was plottedagainst time. As the incubation proceeded, the related substancereleased from the microsphere also increased. However, microspheres with85% PLA and 100% PLA produced less amount of related substance. Thedifference was more pronounced at low pH.

Shown in FIG. 13A is percent related substance formation during in-vitrorelease of octreotide from PLGA 75:25 (MG090899), 50:50 (GJ033100 andGJ051600) 85:15 (GJ021501), and PLA microspheres at 37° C. in anisotonic phosphate buffer. PLGA50:50 produced hydrophobic impurities ata faster rate. PLA produced the impurities at a slower rate. PLGA with85% and 75% lactide content produced impurities at a rate higher thanPLA and lower than PLGA 50:50. These release studies were performed inpH 7.4 buffer and the release media was replaced frequently. A separaterelease study was performed on PLGA 50:50, PLGA 85:15 and PLA basedmicrospheres at pH 7. The related substance formation in thesemicrospheres were compared. At pH 7, there was a steady increase inrelated substance similar to the pattern observed at pH 7.4, however,less in magnitude. Shown in FIG. 13B is a comparison of the relatedsubstance formation during in-vitro release of octreotide from thesemicrospheres at 37° C. in an isotonic phosphate buffer at pH 7. Shown inFIG. 13C is a comparison of the related substance formation duringin-vitro release of octreotide from PLGA 50:50, PLGA 85:15 and PLAmicrospheres at 37° C. in an isotonic phosphate buffer at pH 6. At pH 6,there was a considerable difference among the 50:50 PLGA and the PLGAwith higher lactide content. The related substance formation reducedconsiderably for the 85:15PLGA and PLA microspheres, while the PLGA50:50 PLGA based microspheres still showed related substance.

13. Hydrophobic Related Substances Formation By Drug ExtractionProcedure

The drug extraction procedure did not cause the hydrophobic relatedsubstances. To show this, approximately 1 mg octreotide acetate wasmixed with 10 mg polymer (R203H, R202H, PLA 0.11, PLGA90:10 (iv 0.11),PLGA 85:15DL2A, PLGA 75:25H (BI), RG504H and RG503H). To the mixture,added 2 mL acetonitrile/water (9:1) and dissolved the entire content.Clear solution was obtained in all cases. To that added 8 mL acetatebuffer (0.1 M, pH 4.0) and mixed well for 10 minutes. The turbidsolution was filtered through 045 micron PTFE syringe filter and assayedby HPLC. Controls without drug and without polymer were also included inthe study. There was no hydrophobic related substances found in theextract. The drug recovery was slightly above 100% (actual values were101-103%) which shows that there was no loss of drug and also provesthat the drug recovery method results in accurate value (data notshown).

14. Storage Stability

To demonstrate storage stability of Octreotide Containing PLGAmicrospheres, microsphere batches were prepared with both 85:15PLGA and50:50 PLGA and stored under different temperature conditions.

The properties of the polymer, composition of the dispersed phase andthe properties of the microsphere are provided in Table-32.

TABLE 32 Properties of the polymer, polymer solution and microspheresGC100903 GC111703 Polymer Co-monomer 85% Lactide 50% Lactide propertiescomposition 15% Glycolide 50% Glycolide Mw of the polymer 10 kDa 30 kDaAcid Number 17.2 7.4 Composition Polymer in DP, % 33.88 16.47 ofDispersed Phase Octreotide Acetate 3.76 1.24 in DP, % Methylene chloride53.01 70.14 in DP, % Methanol in DP, % 5.33 7.02 Glacial acetic 4.025.08 acid in DP, % Target drug in 10 7 microsphere, % Properties of Drugload in the 7.82 5.65 the microsphere, % Microsphere EncapsulationEfficiency, % % Impurity (Total) None 3.4 detected Bulk Density, g/mL0.61 0.72 Particle Size, Vol. dist 10% under 4.17 2.82 25% under 10.311.94 50% under 23.9 26.32 75% under 37.8 38.99 90% under 46.8 49.04GC100903 microsphere prepared from 85:15 PLGA having acid number 17.2did not show any impurity, while GC111703 prepared from 50:50 PLGAhaving acid number 7.4 showed 3.4% initial impurity, despite the lowertarget load. These microspheres were subjected to storage stability andcompared to that of the commercial octreotide microsphere, SandostatinLAR. Microspheres were stored at −20° C., 2-8° C. (refrigerated), 25° C.and at 40° C. After three month storage the batch GC100903 showed betterstorage stability compared to GC111703 and Sandostatin LAR. The storagestability data is shown in Table 33.

TABLE 33 Percentage Impurities (Related Substances) in OctreotideContaining Microspheres Upon Storage Storage Storage Sandostatinduration Condition GC100903 GC111703 LAR Initial N.A None 3.4% 6.6%detected 3 Months −20° C.   None 3.3% 6.2% detected 2-8° C.  None 3.3%6.1% detected 25° C. None 6.9% 8.4% detected 40° C. 1.8% 17.2%  23.3% As shown herein, the octreotide microspheres prepared from a polymersolution containing 85% lactide can be stored at room temperature withundetectable peptide related substances, whereas the commerciallyavailable octreotide microsphere, Sandostatin LAR, requires at leastrefrigeration for storage.

15. Efficacy of Octreotide Microspheres Having No Detectable Impurities

Octreotide acetate containing polymer solutions were prepared usingseveral PLGA85:15 polymers (GC091903, GC091203, GC091503, GC091703 andGC091603). The acid number of the polymers ranged from 14 to 18.Microspheres were prepared by dispersing the dispersed phase in thecontinuous phase (0.35% polyvinyl alcohol solution) by the continuousflow process described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,945,126 and 6,270,802.Properties of the polymer, composition of various components in thedispersed phase, and the properties of the microspheres were as shown inTable-34 below.

The microspheres so prepared were recovered and formulated in a diluent,which is a solution of carboxymethylcellulose, mannitol and tween-80.Each vial had 5 mg octreotide acetate. The microspheres had drugencapsulation efficiency ranging from 76 to 81% and there were nodetectable impurities (related substances) in the microspheres. Themicrosphere suspensions in diluent were then freeze-dried to achieve theformulation that is suitable for the in-vivo evaluation.

TABLE 34 Properties of 85:15 PLGA Polymers, Dispersed Phase Formulationsand the Properties of the Microspheres Polymer Lot GC091903 GC091203GC091503 GC091703 GC091603 Polymer Polymer Lot# 02-012-105 03-001-08503-001-097 03-001-105 03-001-114 Properties Co-monomer 85% Lactide 85%Lactide 85% Lactide 85% Lactide 85% Lactide composition & 15% & 15% &15% & 15% & 15% Glycolide Glycolide Glycolide Glycolide Glycolide AcidNumber of the polymer 14.8 17.5 17.8 17.1 17.2 Mw of the polymer 1339511546 10307 10507 10961 Dispersed Polymer in DP, % 29.7 29.7 29.7 29.729.7 Phase Octreotide Acetate in DP, % 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 CompositionMethylene chloride in DP, % 57.3 57.3 57.3 57.3 57.3 Methanol in DP, %5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 Glacial acetic acid in DP, % 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0Target drug in microsphere, % 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% Microsphere Drug loadin the microsphere, % 8.1 7.7 7.8 7.6 7.7 Properties EncapsulationEfficiency, % 81 77 78 76 77 % Impurity (Total) <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1Bulk Density, g/mL 0.70 0.70 0.61 0.65 0.74 Particle Size, Vol. dist 10%under 2.19 2.76 3.16 2.59 2.80 25% under 9.61 10.0 13.3 8.72 10.6 50%under 20.8 23.1 25.4 21.6 24.9 75% under 30.2 33.3 35.0 30.8 34.4 90%under 37.8 41.5 43.6 38.3 42.1

Freeze-dried dosage forms were then reconstituted with water and theresulting microsphere suspensions were injected s.c. in rats; five ratsfor each microsphere formulation. Blood samples were withdrawn atappropriate intervals and the growth rate of the rats were alsofollowed. Shown in FIG. 14 is data on the serum octreotide level in ratsinjected with octreotide microspheres (microsphere lots GC091903,GC091203, GC091503, GC091703 and GC091603) containing no detectableimpurities. The control rats received only diluent (without microsphere)and the octreotide concentration found in the serum is zero ornegligible. Shown in FIG. 15 is data on the percentage increase in bodyweight compared to the time when they first received the octreotidemicrospheres (microsphere lots GC091203, GC091503, GC091603, GC091703and GC091903) containing no detectable impurities. Control indicatesbody of weight of rats that received only diluent. The reported valuesare the average from five rats.

The microspheres were one-month release formulations. It is known in theart that octreotide in serum controls the growth hormone (GH) andinsulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in acromegaly patients (McKeage etal., 2003, Octreotide Long-Acting Release (LAR)—A Review of its Use inthe Management of Acromegaly, Drugs 63 (22): 2473-2499. It is shown, byway this example herein that impurity free octreotide microspheres ofthe present invention is effective in controlling or reducing the growthrate of the rats.

G. Leuprolide Microspheres

1. Leuprolide PLGA Microspheres

Three microsphere batches were prepared with PLGA 50:50 from a cleardispersed phase by the same procedure described above for octreotidemicrospheres. See Table 35 below.

TABLE 35 Leuprolide Microsphere with PLGA50:50 PLGA Acid Target DrugBatch used Number Load Load % Impurity TV061297 RG503H 7.4   18% 14.0% 3.46 BT073096 RG503H 7.4 12.5% 9.5% 2.32 BT103196 RG502H 29.3 12.5% 9.4%0.21

2. Effect of Molecular Weight (or Effect of Acid Number):

Another batch, BT103196 was prepared with low molecular weight polymerRG502H. The target load was 12.5% and the actual load was 9.4%. Thepercentage impurity, as polymer-drug adduct is only 0.21%.

3. Effect of Target Load:

Leuprolide acetate microsphere was prepared with RG503H at two targetloads. Batch TV061297 was prepared with the target load of 18% andresulted in microspheres with 14% drug load. The resultant microsphereshad 3.46% impurities as drug polymer adduct. Batch BT073096 was preparedwith the same RG503H polymer at 12.5% target load. The resultantmicrospheres had 9.5% drug load and 2.32% impurities.

Shown in FIG. 16 is the HPLC chromatogram of the extract from a RG503Hmicrosphere, TV061297. The structure of the impurities marked in FIG. 16were identified by HPLC-MS, and shown below:

Peak ID Structure 1 [5-OxoL-Prolyl]-[L-histidyl]-[L-tryptophyl]-[L-Seryl]-[L-Tyrosyl]-[D-Leucyl]-[L-Leucyl]-L-[L-arginyl]-[N-ethylprolinamide] (Leuprolide acetate) 2[5-OxoL-Prolyl]-[L-histidyl]-[L-tryptophyl]-[L-Seryl]-[L-Tyrosyl]-[D-Leucyl]-[L-Leucyl]-L-[L-arginyl-GLY]-[N-ethylprolinamide] 3[5-OxoL-Prolyl]-[L-histidyl]-[L-tryptophyl]-[L-Seryl]-[L-Tyrosyl]-[D-Leucyl]-[L-Leucyl]-L-[L-arginyl-GLY-GLY]-[N-ethylprolinamide] 4[5-OxoL-Prolyl]-[L-histidyl]-[L-tryptophyl]-[L-Seryl]-[L-Tyrosyl]-[D-Leucyl]-[L-Leucyl]-L-[L-arginyl-GLY-LAC]-[N-ethylprolinamide] 5[5-OxoL-Prolyl]-[L-histidyl]-[L-tryptophyl]-[L-Seryl]-[L-Tyrosyl]-[D-Leucyl]-[L-Leucyl]-L-[L-arginyl-LAC-LAC]-[N-ethylprolinamide]

4. Leuprolide PLA Microspheres

Three leuprolide microsphere batches were prepared with polylactide. SeeTable 36 below.

TABLE 36 Leuprolide Microspheres with PLA Acid Target Actual % TotalBatch Polymer No. Load, % Load, % Impurity GJ110899 PLA0.22 9.6 15.510.2% 0.67 GJ110299 PLA, IV 0.11 19.9 15.5% 11.0% 0.29 GJ111999 PLA, IV0.11 19.9 15.0% 10.6% 0.27

As shown in the Table 36, leuprolide microspheres with polylactideproduced less impurities relative to the PLGA microspheres. Also, it wasshown that lower the molecular weight (higher acid number), lower theimpurity.

5. Chemical Castration in Prostate Cancer Patients Treated withLeuprolide PLA Microspheres

Leuprolide containing microspheres were prepared at 480 g scale using adispersed phase containing glacial acetic acid. The dispersed phasecomposition is shown in Table-37.

TABLE 37 Composition of the Dispersed Phase Amount, g % CompositionPolylactide 401 25.0 Dichloromethane 852 53.0 Leuprolide acetate 79.14.92 Glacial Acetic acid 6.7 0.42 Methanol 268 16.7Microspheres were made from the dispersed phase by the continuous flowprocess under aseptic conditions using the procedure described in theU.S. Pat. Nos. 5,945,126 and 6,270,802. The microspheres so preparedwere formulated in a diluent, which was a sterile solution ofcarboxymethylcellulose, mannitol, and tween-80. The microspheresuspension in the diluent was then filled into vials to have 22.5 mgleuprolide acetate per vial (plus the overage to accommodate thetransfer loss) and freeze-dried. The properties of the finished dosageform is shown in the Table-38 below.

TABLE 38 Properties of the Microsphere Leuprolide acetate content pervial* 23.2 mg Leuprolide load in the microsphere 13.4% Particle size,Vol. Distribution 10% under  3 micron 25% under 12 micron 50% under 25micron 75% under 36 micron 90% under 45 micron pH upon reconstitution6.9 Moisture content, % 0.1% Accelerated drug release  5 Hours 20% drugreleased 24 Hours 50% drug released 48 Hours 73% drug released 72 Hours86% drug released *Filled with ≈10% overage and Intent to deliver 22.5mg leuprolide acetate.A comparison of the molecular weight of the polymer used for themicrosphere preparation and the molecular weight of the polymer in themicrosphere (data presented in Table-39 below) showed that the Mw of thepolymer did not change upon microsphere formation.

TABLE 39 Molecular weight (Mw) of the raw polymer and the microsphere Mw% Change in Mw Raw polymer 14321 N.A MS Batch# 0H 14420 +0.7

The microspheres were injected once in every three months to chemicallycastrate and maintain prostate cancer patients. In patients withprostate cancer, achieving serum testosterone levels of less than orequal to 0.5 ng/ml (chemical castration level) is a desiredpharmacological indicator of therapeutic action. Thus, physiologically,the patients that received the leuprolide microsphere should have theirserum testosterone level reduced to or below 0.5 ng/mL by four weeks orearlier and should maintain that castrate level for the entire durationof the therapy. In all, forty prostate cancer patients received themicrosphere injections (intramuscular injections). Twelve patients weremonitored for the serum leuprolide to follow the pharmacokinetics andall the patients were monitored for serum testosterone. FIG. 17 showsthe serum leuprolide level and their testosterone level. Chemicalcastration was achieved within 28 days in 39 patients out of 40. Afterachieving castration, all the patients maintained castration for theentire treatment period. The second injection of the formulation did notproduce testosterone surge and maintained the low testosterone level.

H. Orntide Microspheres

Orntide (Ac-D-2Nal-D-4 Cpa-D-3Pal-Ser-Lys(Pic)-D-Orn(6-Aminonicotinoyl)-Leu-Ilys-Pro-D-Ala-NH₂)containing microspheres with several polymers were made. One impurityhas been found in large amount while preparing the orntide microsphereswith PLGA5050. This compound eluted just before orntide and identifiedas Orntide-glycolide adduct through serine. This peak eluted beforeorntide in HPLC because, orntide is comparatively hydrophobic. Few otherimpurities were also observed after orntide, which were not identified,and assumed that they are adducts with larger fragments from PLGA. Asseen with the octreotide and leuprolide microspheres above, PLGA withhigher lactide content produced less impurity. Orntide microspheresprepared with PLA did not show individual impurity large enough toreport. Following Table 40 shows examples of Orntide microsphere withPLGA

TABLE 40 Orntide microspheres with PLGA Sum of other % Acid TargetActual Orn-Gly impurities & No. Batch Polymer Lactide No. Load Loadadduct of impurities GJ022300 RG504H 50 5.9 21% 14.2% 1.87% 1.43% (Five)GJ022900 RG503H 50 7.4 22% 15.2% 1.64% 1.38 (Four) GJ022400 7525DL3A 756.7 21% 14.0% 0.52% 0.57 (Two or Three)I. WOC4D Microspheres

WOC4D, a structure of which is shown below, is another somastostatinanalog like octreotide.

WOC4D microspheres with several polymers were made. WOC4D microspherealso showed a similar behavior as seen with octreotide microspheres. Thelevel of adduct formation, however, is much less. The following Table 41shows examples of WOC4D microsphere with PLGA.

TABLE 41 WOC4D microspheres with PLGA Target Actual Sum of Batch Polymer% Lactide Acid No. Load Load Impurities GJ062199 RG503H 50 7.4 13% 7.91.46 GJ070199 RG504H 50 5.9 13% 8.4 1.74 GJ050499 RG503 50 0.5 11.1%  8.2 1.97 MG052500 8515DL2A 85 19.2 15% 13.4 0.22 MG050200 PLA iv 0.11100 19.9  9% 8.2 0J. Orntide Containing Formulation and Prevention of its Gelling

1. Orntide Solubility With and Without an Acid Additive in DispersedPhase

Solubility of orntide in dichloromethane (DCM) and methanol wasevaluated.

Orntide received from various sources showed insolubility and gellingcharacteristics in DCM-methanol mixture. In general, it was found thatthe solution was not very clear and had a tendency to gel quickly.Glacial acetic acid helped to form a clear solution. However, the amountof glacial acetic acid required to achieve the solubility varied withmanufacturer and with Lot#. Solubility of three orntide raw materialfrom various sources were also compared by the solubility test inpresence of glacial acetic acid. To 84 mg orntide acetate, added 100 mgglacial acetic acid initially and added 130 mg methanol. After mixingthese components well forming a clear solution, 1.28 g methylenechloride was added and warmed the mixture to 40° C. for about 5 minutesto form a clear solution. Table-42 provides the comparative account ofthe gellation. In all threes cases, acid was added first to orntidesample and the solution formed after adding all additives were clear.However, PPL-ORN-9902 turned into gel within 30 minutes.

TABLE 42 Solubility Comparison of Orntide Acetate PPL-ORN-9901PPL-ORN-9902 MG#401 Polypeptide Lab Polypeptide Lab California PeptideLab Clear solution, Gelled within 30 min and Clear solution. Hazy andstable for more turned into White pasty tendency to gel after one thanone hour. mass. hour

Adding glacial acetic acid and warming the solution improved thesolubility However, the solution showed some gelling, depending upon thesource and Lot#. Dispersed phases were prepared with various polymers toprepare microspheres containing PPL-ORN-9902 as shown in Table-43. TheDP started gelling, and heating reversed the gelation but went back togel after the DP cooled down to room temperature and was stored forabout 10 minutes.

TABLE 43 Preparation Parameter of DP Polymer GJ013100 BT020800 GJ0119007525DL3A GJ020400 BT020300 8515DL2A PLA iv 0.11 Alkermes RG503H BIRG504H BI Alkermes BPI, Lot# 99115 Lot# 97-12-113 Lot#281334 Lot#34020Lot# 96-11-178 Amount of Polymer, g 3.5 2.46 1.56 2.34 2.37 Amount ofOrntide, g 0.5 0.54 0.44 0.66 0.63 Amount of DCM, g 7.5 12.0 7.0 12.05.0 Amount of MeOH, g 0 0.6 0.7 1.2 0.5 Amount of Acetic acid, g 2.502.2 1.4 2.2 1.2 % Acetic acid in DP 17.9 12.4 21 12 12 Properties of DPafter Hazy, gelling Hazy. Clarity Clear after Clear after Clear afterheating to 60 C. improved heating to heating to heating to with MeOH 60C. 60 C. 60 C.

Up to 22% glacial acetic acid was required for the DP to form a clearand filterable DP solution. DP with such high quantity of acetic acidmay not form desirable microspheres by O/W process, if the molecularweight of the polymer is lower than 10,000 (data not shown).

Other acids having low pKa values such as HCl, glycolic acid, and Lacticacid (85% solution in water) also helped to achieve the solubility andstability of DP. However, anhydrous acids are preferred to avoid phaseseparation caused by the water. HCl and lactic acid are available withwater. Hence, these acids in DP could cause phase separation. Lacticacid with lower water content did not cause phase separation andprevented gelation. Lactic acid with 85% water (commercially available)prevented gelation, however phase separation was observed in the DP. Thecomposition of tested DP contained, 0.22 g orntide, (Lot# PPL-ORN-9902),0.6 g methanol, 0.78 g RG503H, 4.0 g DCM, and appropriate amount of acidas shown in Table-44. The stability was followed for a day.

TABLE 44 Solubility Performance of Orntide DP Containing Acids with lowpKa Acid Type & % % Acid Composition in DP in DP Observation Conc.Hydrochloric   5% Two clear phases, upon mixing acid turns hazy due totwo phase mixing. No gelling upon storage. Conc. Hydrochloric 2.5% Twoclear phases, upon mixing acid turns hazy due to two phase mixing. Nogelling upon storage. Conc. Hydrochloric    2.5% + Two clear phases,upon mixing acid and 85% Lactic 2.5% turns hazy due to two phase Acidmixing. No gelling upon storage 85% Lactic acid   5% Hazy even afterwarming. Gelled overnight 85% Lactic acid  11% Two phases. No gelling.Lactic acid: 11%  11% Clear and stable solution. (Mol. Sieves treated)**Molectular sieves reduced the water content in 85% lactic acid from 15%to approx. 7%.

2. Improving the Solubility of Raw Orntide in DP from Non-AqueousSolvents

In an attempt to minimize the amount of acid to be used to dissolveorntide in organic solvents, an attempt was made to re-freeze dryorntide with appropriate solvent system. Two organic solvents whichcould be freeze dried under normal freeze drying cycle are, tert-butanol(TBA) and cyclohexane. In this study 40 mg/mL solution of orntide wasmade in TBA-Water mixture. To a set of sample, glacial acetic acid wasalso added. The solution was then freeze dried using the cycle below:

Freezing: −50° C. for 2 hours Drying: Ramp from −50° C. to 10° C. over20 hour period. Ramp from 10° C. to 25° C. over 20 hour period Terminaldrying at 25° C. for approx. 10 hours.The list of solutions underwent the freeze drying are shown in Table-45.

TABLE 45 Orntide solutions in TBA water for freeze drying to improvesolubility % TBA/% Other Orntide (100 mg) Water additives Conc. CodeCal. Peptide, 23/74 3% 40 mg/mL H MG0401 Acetic acid PPL-ORN-9902 23/743% 40 mg/mL I Acetic acid PPL-ORN-9902- 23/74 3% 40 mg/mL J EDTACleaned* Acetic acid PPL-ORN-9902 76/24 No 40 mg/mL K PPL-ORN-9902 44/56No 100 mg/mL  L PPL-ORN-9902 34/66 No 50 mg/mL M PPL-ORN-9902 34/66 No100 mg/mL  N *Orntide treated with EDTA solution to remove ions.

Freeze-dried orntide went through a dispersed phase formation andgellation study, with the following DP composition.

-   Orntide: 84 mg-   Methanol: 150 mg-   Glacial acetic acid: 200 mg-   DCM: 1280 mg-   R202H: 450 mg.

Thus, the DP contained 9.2% acid in the formulation. Freeze driedorntide from “M” produced clear DP which was stable for a week. Otherformulations showed improved solubility compared to the originalmaterial, but not as good as sample “M”. As per the request of OakwoodLabs, Polypeptide Lab re-freeze dried the peptide in TBA-Water mixtureand sent the material. Several microsphere batches were produced withthe re-freeze dried orntide with TBA. Table-45 shows the preparationparameters, which showed that 11% acetic acid in the DP formulation issufficient to form stable DP. Table-46 shows the properties of themicrospheres.

TABLE 45 Preparation parameters of Orntide Microspherere BatchesPreparation Parameters GJ081000 GJ081500 GJ082100 GJ082400* PolymerRG503H RG503H RG503H RG503H Source/Lot# BI 281334 BI 281334 BI 281334 BI281334 Batch Size 1.0 g 1.0 g 1.0 5.0 Target load 21 18 21 21 PolymerConc. 16.5 16.5 16.5 15.3 in DCM MeOH/DCM 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 Aceticacid in DP 11% 11% 16%** 11% Silverson RPM 5000 4000 4000 4000 CP/DCM200 193 200 182 CP: Conc. Of 0.1 M, 7.4 0.1 M, 7.4 0.1 M, 7.4 0.1 M, 7.4PB and pH *Used in-line mixer **To check the influence of higher aceticacid in DP on testosterone suppression in rat

GJ081000 had 21% target load and GJ081500 had 18% target load. Drugincorporation efficiency was not affected while targeting 21% drug load.GJ082400 also had 21% target load, however prepared using an in-linemixer. Drug incorporation efficiency was not affected, however slightlylarger amount of non-spherical particles were found in the product.GJ082100 also had 21% target load, however the DP contained 16% aceticacid.

TABLE 46 Properties of Orntide Microspheres Properties GJ081000 GJ081500GJ082100 GJ082400 Drug Load, % 17.5 13.58 16.24 17.74 Drug incorp. 83%75% 77% 84% Efficiency Drug in CP Initial 26.27 26.12 19.21 32.02 EV-0min 20.52 24.64 12.84 17.85 EV-60 min 12.34 18.95 12.34 17.50 Final13.81 16.04 25.21 17.14 Mass balance 97 91 102 101 Particle size 10%Under 1.29 1.32 1.79 2.27 25% Under 3.09 3.20 5.51 6.24 50% Under 8.259.13 12.81 14.56 90% Under 29.61 27.5 35.75 31.33

Two microsphere batches, GJ082100 and GJ082400, were formulated at 3mg/vial orntide and freeze dried. The formulated microspheres wereadministered to rats at 3 mg/Kg by sc injection.

FIGS. 18 and 19 show the testosterone suppression for the rats thatreceived one of the two batches, i.e., GJ082100 or GJ082400.

3. Order of Adding Acid Additive, Orntide and Other Components to FormDP

Acetic acid required in the DP was added first to the orntide andorntide was soluble in that limited amount of acetic acid. Followed bythat, methanol or/and a portion, preferably half of the DCM required inthe formulation was added to the orntide solution in acetic acid. Theremaining DCM was used to dissolve the PLGA or PLA. The viscous polymersolution and the orntide solution were mixed together to form the DP.This DP showed better filterability and stability against gellation thanwhen the acid was added to the DP. Instead of adding portion of the DCMin the DP to the orntide solution in acid, methanol or combination ofmethanol and DCM could be added. The formulation tested had thecomposition, 0.984 g RG503H, 0.22 g orntide, 0.85 g glacial acetic acid,5.0 g DCM and 0.74 g Methanol. The effect of order of the addition ofthe components were checked. To form a clear solution, the acetic acidshould be added first forming a clear solution. Then by adding half ofDCM (2.5 g) or the methanol, it formed into a less viscous and clearsolution. Then, the solution could be mixed with the polymer solution.The orntide solution in acetic acid could also be admixed with thepolymer solution directly.

4. Suppression of Testosterone Levels in a Mammal by Orntide ContainingMicrospheres Made of PLGA or PLA Polymer Matrix

Orntide microspheres were prepared using the appropriate PLGA or PLA toachieve release for nine months to one year. The preparation parametersand properties of the orntide microspheres are shown in Table-47. Thedispersed phase was prepared as described above using the freeze-driedorntide acetate. Polyvinyl alcohol solution buffered to pH>7.5 was usedas the continuous phase. The microspheres were prepared using theprocedure described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,126 using in-line mixerat 4000 RPM, and the subsequent solvent removal and washing wereperformed as described in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,802.

TABLE 47 Preparation Parameter and Properties of the OrntideMicrospheres GC102301 GC010402 DP Polymer 85:15 PLGA PLA Composition (Mw81 kDa) (Mw 30 kDa) Polymer conc., % 9.6 13.5 Dichloromethane, % 70.564.8 Orntide conc., % 2.2 2.4 Glacial acetic 10.0 10.9 acid, % Methanol,% 7.7 8.4 Microsphere Drug Load, % 11.0 12.2 Properties Encapsulation 6181 Efficiency, % Particle Size (volume distribution) 10% under  1.9 μm 1.9 μm 25% under  4.9 μm  5.1 μm 50% under 15.1 μm 13.7 μm 90% under36.5 μm 21.8 μm

The microspheres so obtained were suspended in a diluent containingcarboxymethyl cellulose, tween-80 and mannitol and freeze dried invials.

Rats were dosed (subcutaneously) at 27 mg orntide acetate per kilogrambody weight, assuming that the formulation will release the drug forabout 12 months duration. It was established previously that 2.25 mg permonth is effective dose for chemical castration (testosterone below 0.5ng/mL) of rats if provided as sustained release formulation. Six ratsreceived each microsphere formulation.

FIG. 20 shows the serum orntide level and the serum testosterone levelin rats that received GC102301 and FIG. 21 shows the serum testosteronelevel in rats that received GC010402. The orntide microspheres wereeffective in rapidly suppressing testosterone to castration levels andmaintaining at those levels for extended periods. The GC102301 waseffective for 9 months and GC010402 was effective for little over 12months.

K. Leuprolide Containing Formulation and Prevention of its Gelling

While making leuprolide microsphere which has an step of dissolvingleuprolide in methanol at 0.24 g/g, there was a gellation/precipitationof leuprolide. The precipitated/gelled leuprolide could not be turnedback in to solution even by adding huge amount of methanol. Previousexperience shows that 0.14 g/g solution of leuprolide in methanol isstable and clear for at least a day.

Initially, leuprolide dissolved easily in methanol, forming a clearsolution at 0.24 g/g concentration. However, while it was approachingtowards complete solubility, the leuprolide precipitated out of thesolution rapidly, become a thick, white gel. A brief investigation studywas performed on leuprolide solution in methanol and in dispersed phase.

This study was performed to compare the stability of leuprolide/methanolsolution and the stability of the DP. Table-48 compares the stability ofDP.

TABLE 48 Stability of Leuprolide Solution in Methanol and in DPLeuprolide in DP (Leup, MeOH, Polymer & DCM) Leuprolide Solution inMethanol Type Supplier/Lot# Conc. (g/g) Stability Polymer of DP*Stability Bachem, 0.14 Stable and clear RG503H 30 Day Stable for 5 daysFLEUP9901 for 4 days. Bachem, 0.14 Stable and clear RG503H 30 Day Stablefor 2 days FLEUP9805 for 2 days Bachem 0.24 Hazy after 30 R202H 90 DayHazy after 30 min, FLEUP9805 min gelled on the same day Peninsula, 769A,0.14 Stable and clear RG503H 30 day Clear for 2 days purified for 3 days(viscosity higher (Lot#036973) than Bachem Leup) Peninsula, 769A, 0.24Stable and clear R202H 90 Day Stable for 30 purified for 40 min minutes,turned hazy (Lot#036973) and viscous after 30 min Bachem 0.24 Cloudyafter 2 FLEUP9901 hours Trace of glacial 0.24 Clear solution, aceticacid and stable for >7 days Bachem Leup9901 *Note: 30 Day DP is obtainedby mixing 0.612 g of 0.14 g/g leuprolide/methanol solution and 2.2 g of0.18 g/g RG503H/DCM solution. 90 Day DP is obtained by mixing 1.05 g of0.24 g/g leuprolide/methanol solution and 3.95 g of 0.32 g/g R202H/DCMsolution.

The addition of acetic acid to the solution proved to provide excellentstability for Bachem leuprolide against gelling/precipitation ofleuprolide from its methanol solution as well as in DP. It is necessaryto find the effective amount of acetic acid required to keep the DPstable for an extended period of time. The DP formulation is verysimilar to the 90 day leuprolide formulation. Solutions of both Bachemand Peninsula leuprolide were prepared with acetic acid to evaluate thestability. Table-49 shows the result.

TABLE 49 Acetic acid and DP Stability Leuprolide Methanol solution*Dispersed phase** Composition Performance Performance Bachem FLEUP9805Stable for 5 days Stable for one week (0.4 g) + 75 mg Glacial aceticacid + Methanol (1.27 g) Bachem FLEUP9805 Stable for 5-6 hours Stablefor 5-6 hours (0.4 g) + 7.5 mg Glacial acetic acid + Methanol (1.27 g)Peninsula purified, 769-A Stable for 3 days Stable for 4 days (0.4 g) +75 mg Glacial acetic acid + Methanol (1.27 g) *It is a 0.24 g/g solution**90 Day DP composition with polymer, R202HTable-50 shows the minimum acetic acid composition required in the DPfor stable solution.

TABLE 50 Suggested Composition for the 90 Day DP formulation % Amt inMethanol % Amt. Component Amount (g) solution (wt) In DP Leuprolideacetate 4 g 24.3% 5.4 Acetic acid 0.075 g  0.4% 0.1 Methanol 12.4 g75.3% 16.8 R202H 18.4 N.A. 24.9 DCM 39.0 52.8Several microsphere batches at approx. 400 g and approx. 800 g wereprepared and tested in rats, dogs and human. The composition of thedispersed phase is shown in Table-10.

TABLE 51 Composition of two batches produced under sterile condition forclinical study Approx. 400 g Approx. 800 g Batch scale batch scale batchPolymer R202H from BI R202H from BI Leuprolide source Bachem BachemAmount of R202H 401 g 598 g Amount of Leuprolide 82 g 123 g acetateAmount of Glacial 7 g 10 g acetic acid Amount of methanol 268 g 390 gAmount of DCM 852 g 1250 gMicrosphere produced at 400 g has been evaluated in human also, andfound to castrate >95% men within a month and maintained castration forthe tested period, three months.

All publications, patents and patent applications mentioned in thisspecification are indicative of the level of those skilled in the art towhich this invention pertains. The contents of all the publications,patents and patent applications are incorporated herein by reference tothe same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patentapplication was specifically and individually indicated to beincorporated by reference.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail byway of illustration and example for purposes of clarity ofunderstanding, it will be obvious that certain changes and modificationsmay be practiced within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A polymer solution for sustained release formulation comprising: abiocompatible and biodegradable polymer, at least one nucleophilicsubstance capable of catalyzing ester bond cleavage and causingmolecular weight reduction of the polymer, at least one organic solvent,and an amount of an acid additive consisting of one or more low pKaacids such that the polymer in the polymer solution is less susceptibleto molecular weight reduction as compared to the polymer solutionwithout the acid additive, wherein the amount of the acid additive isless than 100% relative to the amount of said polymer in the polymersolution.
 2. The polymer solution of claim 1, wherein the polymer ispoly(d,l-lactic acid), poly(l-lactic acid) or poly(glycolic acid), or acopolymer of poly(d,l-lactic acid) or poly(l-lactic acid) andpoly(glycolic acid).
 3. The polymer solution of claim 1, wherein thenucleophilic substance is a polypeptide, or a drug having a nucleophilicgroup.
 4. The polymer solution of claim 3, wherein the nucleophilicsubstance is selected from the group consisting of: a polypeptide,ketotifen, thioridazine, risperidone, oxybutynin, olanzapine, naloxoneand naltrexone, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.
 5. Thepolymer solution of claim 4, wherein the polypeptide is a somatostatinanalog or LHRH analog.
 6. The polymer solution of claim 5, wherein thepolypeptide is selected from the group consisting of octreotide,leuprolide, orntide and Woc4D.
 7. The polymer solution of claim 5,wherein the polypeptide is a somatostatin analog.
 8. The polymersolution of claim 7, wherein the somatostatin analog is octreotide. 9.The polymer solution of claim 5, wherein the polypeptide is an LHRHanalog.
 10. The polymer solution of claim 9, wherein the LHRH analog isleuprolide.
 11. The polymer solution of claim 1, wherein the at leastone organic solvent is dichloromethane (DCM).
 12. The polymer solutionof claim 1, wherein the acid additive is one low pKa acid.
 13. Thepolymer solution of claim 12, wherein the acid additive is lactic acid,glycolic acid, acetic acid, glyceric acid, benzoic acid, propanoic acid,or a combination of these acids.
 14. The polymer solution of claim 12,wherein the amount of acid additive present in the polymer solution isabout 0.1% to 5%.
 15. The polymer solution of claim 12, wherein theamount of acid additive is about 2% to about 50% by weight of thepolymer.
 16. The polymer solution of claim 12, wherein the amount ofacid additive in the polymer solution is about 1.0% to about 10%. 17.The polymer solution of claim 1, wherein the solution is stored attemperatures greater than 25° C.
 18. The polymer solution of claim 1,wherein the solution is stored at temperatures greater than 40° C. 19.The polymer solution of claim 1, wherein the solution contains a solventthat enhances the molecular weight reduction of the polymer.
 20. Thepolymer solution of claim 19, wherein the solvents are methanol,dimethylacetamide, ethanol, dimethylsulfoxide, dimethylformamide,dichloromethane (DCM) or N-methylpyrrolidone or a combination thereof.21. A polymer solution for controlled release formulation, whichcomprises a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer, and at least oneorganic solvent, and a sufficient amount of a nucleophilic compound thatis a polypeptide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, capableof catalyzing ester bond cleavage and causing molecular weight reductionof the polymer, wherein the biodegradable polymer comprises 100%poly(lactide) or a glycolide containing copolymer comprising at least75% w/w poly(lactide) wherein the polymer or the copolymer has an acidnumber of at least 13 but not greater than 40 wherein the polymersolution further comprises an amount of an acid additive consisting ofone or more low pKa acids such that the polymer in the polymer solutionis less susceptible to molecular weight reduction as compared to thepolymer solution without the acid additive, wherein the amount of theacid additive is less than 100% relative to the amount of said polymerin the polymer solution.
 22. The polymer solution for controlled releaseformulation according to claim 21, wherein the biodegradable polymer ispoly-D,L-lactide.
 23. The polymer solution for controlled releaseformulation according to claim 21, wherein the biodegradable polymer isa blend of poly-D,L-lactide and poly-D,L-lactide-co-glycolide.
 24. Thepolymer solution for controlled release formulation according to claim21, wherein the polymer has an acid number from about 14 to about 19.25. The polymer solution for controlled release formulation according toclaim 24, wherein the polypeptide is selected from the group consistingof octreotide, leuprolide, orntide and Woc4D.
 26. The polymer solutionfor controlled release formulation according to claim 21, wherein thepolymer has an acid number of about
 19. 27. The polymer solution forcontrolled release formulation according to claim 26, wherein the acidadditive content is about 0.5% to about 5% by weight.
 28. A polymersolution for controlled release formulation, which comprises abiocompatible and biodegradable polymer, and at least one organicsolvent, and a sufficient amount of a nucleophilic compound that is apolypeptide or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, capable ofcatalyzing ester bond cleavage and causing molecular weight reduction ofthe polymer, wherein the biodegradable polymer comprises 100%poly(lactide) having an acid number of at least 5, or a glycolidecontaining copolymer comprising at least 50% w/w poly(lactide) andhaving an acid number of at least 13, and an amount of an acid additiveconsisting of one or more low pKa acids such that the polymer in thepolymer solution is less susceptible to molecular weight reduction ascompared to the polymer solution without the acid additive, wherein theamount of the acid additive is less than 100% relative to the amount ofsaid polymer in the polymer solution.
 29. The polymer solution forcontrolled release formulation according to claim 28, wherein the acidadditive is glacial acetic acid, lactic acid, glycolic acid or stearicacid or a combination thereof.
 30. The polymer solution for controlledrelease formulation according to claim 28, wherein the polymer solutionis either free of hydrophobic polypeptide related substances or has lessthan 2% hydrophobic polypeptide related substances.